


The Sun Shines Better in Konohagakure

by SapphireLotus11



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2020-10-10 21:10:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 25,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20534654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireLotus11/pseuds/SapphireLotus11
Summary: Now in a hospital bed like his former teammate and best friend, Naruto was finally able rest easy knowing everything he had worked hard for came true... Or did it? NaruIno with some SasuHina referenced in.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is basically the "sister" story to a recently completed fic "With Love, Hinata". If it's confusing then I'd recommend reading that first and then read this. And the usual, I don't own Naruto!

Tsunade was at her wits end. This was the biggest test of her patience and skills as a medical shinobi and professional. With the war over at last, the casualty count was skyrocketing. She and Shizune were doing the impossible; tending to as many wounded members of the village as they physically could. So many of her own were on their toes for the days to come, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were no exception. The trio of girls were tending to their friends. They took care of those who were critically wounded like Neji, Sasuke, and of course Naruto. After meeting with Tsunade about Sasuke's fate in the village, Hinata opted to stay in the room that he and Naruto shared. Sakura sat out in the lobby, her nerves were on edge over the conditions of both of her teammates. 

"You know, _they say stress can cause hair loss_." Ino teased while handing her a cup of tea. "Can't have that now can we. Else, I'll _really_ have to call you billboard brow." She chuckled as she sat next to her friend.

Sakura chuckled softly, while taking the cup from her best friend. "No we can't have that... Thanks."

"Hey, they are the strongest shinobi we know remember?" Ino reminded her. They're gonna be alright." 

Sakura frowned. "We've been through so much Ino! I can't-... I don't know if that's true for sure just yet..."

"No duh, no one does! But, we're gonna believe in it. We _have_ to believe in it! They're your teammates and my friends too." Ino put a hand on Sakura's shoulders.

Sakura gave a small smile and nodded in agreement. "What happened to Hinata?"

"When I left Naruto's room, she was still with Sasuke. She was writing something I think." Ino answered.

"Oh. I see..." Sakura gave a sigh before taking a sip of the tea, it was her favorite lemon flavored tea. "Ino-"

The blonde put a finger on her pink haired friends lips and hushed her. "I already know what you're going to say, and I'm going to tell you as your best friend to relax."

Sakura couldn't help but pout. She knew Ino was right, but the urge to worry over the one that she had feelings for after _so long! _It was itching at her like crazy. "It's not fair..."

Ino sighed. "At times like this, my mom had a special saying for me and it always helped me make it through the day... She'd smile and say: _The gloom of the day will make you sad, but look to the sun tomorrow and your smile will be glad."_


	2. Chapter 2

Slowly opening his eyes, Naruto was greeted by the sunlight beaming through the windows of the room. He was in the hospital alright, and he was not alone this time. Sasuke was in there as well, leaning up against the bed-frame and reading a piece of paper. His body still felt the aftermath of the war, so getting up was a slow going and painful process as his bandaged torso reminded him.

"Didn't think you'd wake up this late..." Sasuke said looking at his busted up roommate.

"Ngnhhh! Don't remind me... What are you doing up so early? I thought you weren't a morning person." He asked while slowly sitting up.

"Reading. Some of the girls came by and brought us food by the way." Sasuke explained. "And since you're a glutton, I sat it by your bed." He said while putting the paper back on his table. "But could you try to leave me something?" He asked with heavy sarcasm.

By _the girls_, he must have been referring to Ino, Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten. That was awful nice of them. He looked at the abundance of food that they brought: Hinata gave them a basket full of fruit. Tenten brought onigiri. Ino made dumplings, and Sakura got dango for them. He could hear his stomach growling with impatience, he didn't know what to eat first!

"Oi, here. Hinata-chan brought this so _you_ can have it~." He teased while waving the basket of fruit at his teammate.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes and snatched from him. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to eat something healthy for once. Especially since we both _nearly died_..."

Naruto was too busy stuffing his face with some onigiri to pay attention. "Mmph?"

Sasuke gave a heavy sigh. "Just don't choke dobe..." He said as he started peeling an orange.

_"I didn't think you still cared for me Sasuke~."_

"What are you talking about?"

"All things considered, we should be at each other's throats! And yet here we are sharing a hospital room. You think this is genjutsu?"

That earned a soft scoff from the Uchiha. "If it was I would have noticed by now... And I thought the Kyuubi protected you from that."

Naruto wiped some of the lingering rice bits from his cheeks. "Hmmmm, good point."

Sasuke sighed again. "We _should_ be fighting. That's true, but eventually we get tired Naruto. I think-... I think that after all that has happen between us, there wasn't a need to fight with a friend anymore..."

_A friend..._

Naruto couldn't help but grin at that as Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"_You softy_.~" He chuckled.

"Shut up." The Uchiha smirked and threw an apple at him.

Naruto caught it easily. Even after all that the hell he went through, it filled his heart with relief to know he still had Sasuke as his best friend. After they ate, they were visited by Tsunade and Shizune to check up on their recovery process. Later on, Shikamaru and Choji stopped in for casual talk and to share updates. Ino and Sakura came by as well. It was mainly to see how the two were doing, but of course they secretly gushed over their hotness. Neither of Sasuke or Naruto was the wiser. 

After all the visitations, Sasuke went back to reading another piece of paper that was left for him. This time, he was smirking a bit as he read it.

"You seem to like whatever it is you are reading huh?" Naruto asked while looming over Sasuke's shoulder. "What is it exactly?"

"Something _private_." Sasuke said as he swatted Naruto away.

"Private? Let me guess, you still get love letters from your adoring fans~?" He teased.

He furrowed his brow at that. He detested being dubbed a heart-throb, it was extremely annoying. "God no!"

Sasuke surrendered with a heavy sigh. "I'm only going to tell you now, so you won't keep me up about it all night. But when I do, you cannot let _anyone else_ know. Understand?"

"Alright alright, your secret's safe with me." This must have been something important... Like a secret mission or something!

The Uchiha showed him the letter he was reading, along with the other one from earlier. After a quick read, he found out that Hinata was the one writing them to Sasuke. It came at bit of a shock! Who would have guessed?

"Wow, for the whole month? Granny Tsunade is harsh." Naruto said while handing the letters back.

Sasuke shrugged. "It could have been worse. I'll take it for what it is, even though it gets on my nerves." 

Naruto snorted. "Heh! I suppose Hinata-chan wormed her way into your ice block you call a heart! About time_ someone_ was able to do it."

"Hn..." Sasuke was trying not blush. "She's different. She isn't loud or boisterous like you and Sakura either, so I can agree with someone like her."

"_Do you mean ,she wasn't swooning at your feet the minute she laid eyes on you? _"

"That's what I said wasn't it?" Sasuke gave a flat answer. "Besides, don't you still have a crush on Sakura?"

Naruto paused before responding. "I- Well uh-... I actually don't know anymore."

Sasuke raised a brow. "That's a first. Here I thought you'd confess to her by now or something."

"I would have but_ you know, saving the world and ending the war had a bit more priority._" Naruto's sarcasm was heavy in his voice. 

"_Of course how could I have forgotten?_" Sasuke matched the sarcasm in return. 

"But it's true! I don't know if I even want a crush on anyone... At least _not yet _anyway."

"Yet?"

"Well yeah, I'm not hokage yet! And no girl wants a boyfriend all bandaged and bruised up in the hospital either." Naruto started to chuckle.

Sasuke smirked at his cheery former teammate while laying in his bed. "Then get some rest already dobe."

He smirked back at his tired friend "You too you... Lovestruck teme..."


	3. Chapter 3

Weeks passed while Naruto and Sasuke were in recovery, it was relaxing if not boring since they couldn't do much.

The girls on the other hand, have been very busy lately: 

Sakura has been putting in double the amount of time at the hospital, making sure everyone was recovering. Hinata had been working twice as hard, since she recently learned of her father's sudden change of heart with her clan status. Ino and Tenten have been assigned double the amount of missions, since the number of available shinobi has diminished since the war. Today, was one of those rare occasions that they weren't extremely busy. So the four of them decided to all hangout together.

By hanging out, it actually meant helping to finish with decorating Sasuke's new apartment. It actually turned out to be a very productive day, and they were finished by noon. The last thing to do was to get groceries. Ino decided to tagged along with Hinata, so they could chat while they went shopping.

"Honestly, you're truly a saint Hinata. Sasuke should spoil you rotten, after all the stuff you're doing for him."

Hinata shook her head and smiled. "It's the least I could do, he should know someone cares about him."

Ino smirked. "More like someone _really_ cares about him _a lot_." She gave a playful nudge as Hinata started to blush. "So, does he know yet?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"_Annnnd_?"

"A-And what?"

"And are you two a couple yet or what? Come on tell me!"

Hinata turned pink at the cheeks. "W-Well- I-... He knows how I feel about him, and h-he seemed alright by it. But I didn't want to go further with anything because of the- agreement with Tsunade-sama."

Ino pouted. "Man, I was hoping for some good news."

"It's only for the rest of the month! A-And we write to each other as often as we can too!"

Ino chuckled. "I could never be able to do that. I'd like to see the person I love all the time, as much as possible. You and Sasuke must have a huge amount of patience."

Hinata giggled. "Well I try to. Hey, Ino?"

"Yeah?"

"You never really talked about who you liked."

She put a finger on her chin. "Hmm, guess I haven't really been thinking about it much lately. I mean, Shikamaru and Temari are engaged, then Choji started a relationship with Karui, I've been so preoccupied to really think about it."

They walked out of the market with their groceries together.

"Well, is there anyone that you had in mind?"

Ino took a moment to think about it while they walked. "Well, if I had to pick... Maybe someone like Naruto?"

Hinata gave a small smile as they walked which made Ino slightly worried. "Hey, what's with the face?"

"What, my smile?"

"Yes, what are you thinking?"

Hinata giggled. "Nothing bad don't worry, Naruto-kun is a very likable person. Besides, isn't that who you got those extra cups of ramen for?"

Ino huffed before she blushed a bit, she thought Hinata wouldn't notice. "Y-Yeah! That's like- his favorite thing to eat! So what?"

Hinata gave another smile as she pointed to their location, it was the hospital. Ino panicked a bit: "O_h god! How the hell did she know I was going to drop off more food to the guys?!"_

"They are getting released from the hospital tonight. I'd better hurry and drop off the groceries at Sasuke's apartment. Have a good night Ino." She waved as she walked by.

Ino paled a bit as her friend left. With a heavy sigh, she walked inside to see Naruto and Sasuke. The other nurses greeted her as she walked in. They knew who she was going to see so there was no more need to check in. She knocked before entering their room on the third floor.

"Hello? Its me!" She came in waving, but Naruto shushed her and pointed at the napping Uchiha.

"The teme decided to take a nap earlier, he should be waking up soon. What's up Ino?" Naruto asked softly while throwing on his shirt and jacket.

She cleared her throat before speaking. "I- just wanted to give you guys some food before you returned home, but I can bring it to your place tomorrow." She whispered.

"Well there still light out you know, want to stop by now? I was just about to leave anyway."

"Are you sure? What about Sasuke?"

He shrugged. "Eh, he'll be fine. He likes to be alone remember?" 

She smiled a bit before nodding. "Okay. I hope you tidied up." She winked at him.

The two blondes walked to Naruto's apartment, while the sun was setting over Konoha. He couldn't help but exhale an exaggerated sigh, as he slouched on his couch. He hasn't been home in what felt like _months_. Ino chuckled, as she shook her head and put the bag of groceries down. They hung out and had dinner together. Ino added her own spin to the ramen she brought earlier by adding vegetables and different spices. They enjoyed talking about old memories, and laughing about their silly adventures. It was growing late and it was about that time for her to head home.

Ino was cut off, when Naruto bear hugged her at the door like she was his little sister. "I never got to thank you for the food and good time." He chuckled.

_"Don't blush Ino! Don't you dare do it!" _She grinned. "Aha! Don't worry about it! You're like a brother to me so of course I'll take care of you!"

"Then that means, I'll have to treat my sister to something special!"

She laughed. "I'm looking forward to it."


	4. Chapter 4

For Naruto, being able to go on missions again was a wonderful feeling, both physically and mentally. He didn't like being cooped up all the time, he had to be out and in the action! Although it was only a C ranked, it was the best C ranked mission he's had in a long _long _time. It almost felt nostalgic going on a mission with Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi. They were nothing like the team seven they were when they were kids. It still felt nice to work alongside them again.

He couldn't help but keep the grin plastered on his face the entire time. Kakashi warned that it would get stuck that way, yet he didn't seem bothered by it. He was in such good spirits, Naruto decided to treat Sasuke and Sakura to dinner at his favorite restaurant. He watch in mixed emotions as Sakura fawned over Sasuke. It was alright for the moment, but he held his feelings for her in for the moment. He decided to refrain, for the sake of enjoying a night out with his friends. However, he still felt a little bad for her...

Sakura didn't know about Sasuke's secret relationship with Hinata- _or maybe she did_? Naruto was not the one to contemplate over stuff like this. It was all rather complicated, and solving complicated problems was more of Shikamaru's forte anyway... 

Sakura raised a brow in concern. "Naruto just how much money do you have?" 

"Enough to cover it, don't worry Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke scoffed a bit. "If I charged you for all the times we've been here, I'd be a very wealthy man."

Naruto gave a sly grin. "That would be a _win-win_ then wouldn't it?" 

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he started to open the newest of letters. Naruto and Sakura watched with curiosity, as the silent Uchiha started to smile slightly while reading it. Not wanting to draw attention, they quickly diverted their curious eyes elsewhere, so it would look like they weren't spying.

Sakura leaned close to Naruto and whispered. "Did you see what I just saw?!"

"Yeah I know, the teme was smiling!"

She looked worried. "You don't think..."

"Think what?"

"You don't think Sasuke-kun, actually _has feelings _for Hinata do you?"

Naruto internally started to panic, but for a different reason: 

Before they were able to go home from the hospital, Sasuke told Naruto about how he slowly started to have an interest in Hinata. He also told him, that didn't want to be bothered with all the drama over forming a relationship. Naruto promised that he wouldn't breathe a word about their little affair_ to anyone_. Due to Tsunade's little restraining order keeping them both apart for a month, they communicate to each other with letters. Naruto felt that maybe Sakura _should_ know, but at the same time, he also didn't want Sasuke raise hell all over again for the _third _time in their lives.

He gulped. "Uh-! Who knows these things with Sasuke!? He's so complex and confusing at times remember? He may say one thing, but it could me seven other things!" He tried his best to play it off.

She sighed. "I guess you're right..."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "_Teme you owe me... Big time!"_


	5. Chapter 5

_One early summer morning..._

"_Hinata! Morning!"_

"_Oh, good morning Naruto-kun. How are you?"_

"_I'm fine, baa-chan has been giving me and Sasuke a lot of missions lately. But it's better than being trapped in the hospital all the time."_

_She smiled. "That's good to here! Are you by chance, meeting up with Sasuke-kun today?"_

"_Yeah as a matter of fact I am! Want me to give him your letter?"_

_She flinched a bit out of embarrassment. " Y-Yes, if you don't mind-..."_

"_Nah, it's totally okay Hinata-chan. Sasuke told me what's going on so I don't mind helping out!"_

"_Oh, Thank you Naruto!" She happily handed him her letter._

_He grinned. "Don't worry about it, Sasuke will be happy to read this one like he was last night."_

_She blushed. "H-He was happy?"_

_He chuckled ."Blushing and everything, he really likes your letters you know..."_

"_I-I'm glad. I'll see you later with Ino and Sakura?"_

"_Hm? Oh Sure! I'll be around when I get back from our mission!"_

...

Naruto was standing outside of the Uchiha's little apartment, getting ready for another round of missions from Tsunade. Today, it was just a bunch of delivery missions, and traveling back and forth from neighboring villages. When Sasuke was ready, the were given a debriefing in Tsunade's office and were off. 

"_Soo_, how was your love letter this time Sasuke~?" He teased.

Not saying anything, Sasuke purposefully tried to trip up Naruto. It was to the point of almost letting him fall to the forest floor on his butt.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" Naruto yelled.

"_My foot slipped..."_ He replied nonchalantly.

They finished with all their missions by three in the afternoon, so the two of them reported back to lady Tsunade and were sent home.

"Oh if you see Hinata, give her this for me would you?" Sasuke handed him his letter.

"Alright. You know, we're all going to dinner. You sure you don't wanna come along?"

"I'm sure. Besides, the loud noise would just irritate my migraine. I'll be around tomorrow."

"Well okay, see you tomorrow then..."

He watched his close friend walk back home, with a mixture of concern and confusion. Naruto could have persisted a little bit, but shrugged it off as something that'll pass on its own. 

He hurried to the restaurant where Ino, Hinata, and Sakura wanted to meet up and eat at. They were also joined by Sai and Shikamaru. He grinned and greeted everyone when he arrived, and the evening was filled with good food and laughter. He also could help but giggle a bit as he watched Hinata blush while reading Sasuke's letter.

"_Wonder what that teme actually wrote to her?" _He thought mischievously. A small scene played out in his head, about Sasuke dramatically confessing his undying love for Hinata as she is swept off her feet.


	6. Chapter 6

"I like this one!"

"Ohhh! This one is cute!"

"Check out the frills on that one!"

Ino, Hinata, and Tenten were in one of the clothing stores shopping for summer dresses. They had the day off from missions and work, so some shopping was definitely a must for them:

Tenten had picked out a magenta colored one, with silky straps and light frills decorating the bottom of it. Hinata had a blue one, with a cute black bow tie sash around the waist. The only problem was that Ino was having trouble picking out one for herself. She tried at least four other dresses already, but none of them had her sold.

"UGHHH!" She groaned in the dressing room. "This is impossible!"

Hinata and Tenten couldn't help but giggle at Ino's plight, as she was throwing a fit over what to wear. Hinata noticed one that Ino didn't try on yet that was hanging on the door. 

"Ino, what about that one?" She pointed out.

They all turned their attention to the long summer dress hanging on the door. It was orange with a purple floral print.

"This one?" Ino raised a brow. "Huh, I forgot I picked it out."

"Can't hurt to try it on." Tenten chimed.

With a shrug, Ino changed out of the previous dress she had on and tried on the new one. She had to stop and marvel at how well it actually fit: There were no straps, but it complemented her figure rather nicely. She came out the dressing room to show Hinata and Tenten, their reactions were just the same as hers.

"Ino you look so pretty!"

"Yeah that dress looks great on you!"

The compliments from her friends had her blushing at the cheeks. "Well, I guess I found my dress then!" She cheered.

The three of them happily walked out the store with their new attire on. Ino went back to the flower shop tending to the potted plants when she heard the ringing of the bell that altered to let her know customers were here.

"Helllooo? Ino-chan?"

She peeked her head from the back room to see Naruto joined by Sasuke.

Ino quickly turned pink as she panicked ."_SHIT!" _

"U-Uhh! Ummm-! Gimme a sec! I'll be right there!" She called.

She scrambled trying to find something to change into, so she wouldn't have to stay in her dress! Unfortunately, there was nothing to be found, and there wasn't enough time to run upstairs and change.

"_He's just a friend, don't over think it..." _She chanted in her head as she walked out to greet them.

Naruto gawked in amazement of how pretty he thought Ino was. "Wow..." He said mindlessly.

"_Just play it off you can do this!"_

"Haha! I see you like my new dress huh?" She said smoothly.

Naruto couldn't help but stare at her and even started to blush. Sasuke cleared his throat as he smacked his friend at the back of the head to bring him back to his senses.

"Ow-! Ah-! Oh! Yeah yeah! I uh, I wanted to get a bouquet of flowers for Tsunade-sama since her birthday passed. And the _teme_ over here wanted to pick out a flower for Hinata-chan..." He said while rubbing the back of his head.

She giggled. "Sure thing! Tsunade likes tiger lilies, so you can give her some of the orange ones." She said as she got the bouquet together for Naruto. "And for Hinata, I recommend the white carnation, simply yet beautiful." She gave the two of them their flowers. It was a smooth transaction on Ino's part, she mentally gave herself a pat on the back.

Before the two left, Naruto quickly pulled one of the tiger lilies out of the bouquet and placed it in Ino's hair.

"Naruto why did you-"

"I- thought since you were wearing orange, I'd give you an orange flower. You know, as an accessory thing? You look really great by the way." He huffed while blushing.

She chuckled as she adjusted the flower in her hair. "Yeah I know. Thanks Naruto, I'll take good care of my _accessory thing._" She gave a playful wink as they walked out the store.

She sighed taking the flower out of her hair and holding it to her chest for a bit. "_Very_ good care of it..."


	7. Chapter 7

It was a rainy afternoon when Ino woke up, she had slept heavily after 2 days of back to back missions. Looking at the clock she realized it was almost 5:30pm. She groaned and laid in bed looking at the ceiling.

"Guess I was more stressed out about it than I thought..."

Thinking back to the event that took place in the morning at Hinata's. She and Sakura were supposed to be visiting her while she was sick, but it quickly escalated into something worse:

...

_The room got rather chilly with sadness before Sakura spoke again. "I still say it's not fair, what with Tsunade-sama doing this Sasuke-"_

_"Buuut! It's only for a couple more days, and things will be bright like the sun shine Hinata!" Ino interjected._

_Hinata nodded slightly. "Yeah, the l-letters seemed to have helped a bit too."_

_"He reads them faithfully while on missions sometimes."_

_Hinata seemed to be alright after that interjection. Ino gave a side glare to Sakura as she said that. She excused herself along with Sakura so the two could talk in private. _

"_That's not cool for you to say Sakura, especially when she's sick right now!" Ino whispered loudly._

_Sakura folded her arms. "Well it's the truth and she knows it!"_

"_So?! That doesn't mean rub salt on the wound! Come on she's our friend, what are you thinking!?"_

"_I'm thinking about what's best for both of them!_"

"_Tch, so suddenly you're miss know-it-all?"_

"_I __know __this was a mistake and Hinata shouldn't have agreed to do this."_

_Ino crossed her arms and shook her head. "I knew it! You're doing it again aren't you?"_

"_Doing what?"_

"_You know exactly what I'm talking about. From when we were younger."_

_Sakura sighed in annoyance. "Things are different now Ino, we're not kids anymore..."_

_Ino looked a Sakura in disbelief_ . "_Are really sure about that Sakura?"_

"_I-"_

"_Is something the matter guys?" Hinata called out._

_They both looked up unaware that Hinata might have been listening, Sakura tried to give her best smile._

"_Yeah, yeah everything's fine Hinata."_

"_A-Are you sure?"_

_Ino smiled as well. "Of course, you just worry about getting better."_

...

She threw on a pair of sweatpants and a plain colored tee, and was quickly out the door. She wasn't in the mood to really cook dinner, and her parents liked to eat late. She opted for ramen, it was quick and good.

Ino sat there with her food, just pondering about random things that came about in her mind. Until she heard a friendly familiar voice.

"Oh ho! Fancy seeing you here Ino."

It was Naruto, seeing how Ichiraku's was his favorite place to go eat. He was always welcomed company.

She grinned. "Heh, I felt like having ramen tonight what can I say. Care to join me?"

"Course I would join you!" He cheered.

She smiled while they had dinner and talked. Ino couldn't help but find herself wondering if this technically counted as _a date_. It bothered her to know end! On a date she would usually be dressed an outfit a lot nicer than a shirt and some sweatpants! And it was with _Naruto_! Not that he was a bad choice, it was quite the opposite in fact. _So why does it all seem so confusing?_

"Say, can I ask you a really weird question?"

"Uh, sure. What's up?"

"Would you-... Count this as _a date?_"

"A date?"

"Yeah it's weird, I'm sorry I just-... I dunno, it kinda felt like a date to me for some odd reason!" She tried to laugh it off.

"No I uh- just wasn't expecting it heheh! But, I guess this could be a date." He replied.

She blushed a bit. "You think so?"

He chuckled. "Sure! It's not anything fancy but, it could be a relaxed date you know? I wouldn't mind doing this more often either."

"But I mean, wouldn't you rather go on a nice date with someone_ you actually like_?"

He raised a brow. "Someone I actually like? I _do_ like you Ino."

She frowned. "I know that, but you still _like_ Sakura don't you?"

He paused for a moment. Sasuke asked the same thing while they were in the hospital. He still isn't one hundred percent sure... "Well I don't- I mean I-" He couldn't piece together a proper sentence to explain his this, how embarrassing.

"Oh man, what kind of sister am I being? I shouldn't be acting like this towards you, it'll ruin the night!" Ino piped up and smiled.

He looked a bit shocked by her response but smiled back. Ino was always the kind of person to cheer someone right up when their down. He liked that a lot about her. "Don't sweat it Ino-chan, the night's not over yet. Want me to walk you home?"

"That'd be nice."

After leaving Ichiraku's, Naruto and Ino shared an umbrella as they walked through the village in the rain. Ino wasn't as talkative as she normally was, and neither was Naruto for that matter. It was almost a gloomy walk home.

"Say Ino, you okay?" He asked.

"Hmm, not really..."

"What's the matter?"

"It's nothing serious, Sakura and I got into an argument this morning over something stupid..."

"That sounds serious to me, I mean you and Sakura were best friends for a while."

"Tell me about it! I dunno I just- I just don't want anything bad to happen with my friends Naruto. I want us all to be happy."

"Then they will!"

She snorted. "It's that easy hm?"

"Yup! You believe in it don't you?"

"I guess..."

"Then it's gonna happen, no doubt about it. Why? Because you believe in that. Things may be rough now, but it'll get better in no time at all!"

She nodded and smiled up at him. "Hey you know what, you're right! I just forgot is all, look even the rains lightening up."

He grinned. "See? It's a good sign, things are looking up for us Ino!"


	8. Chapter 8

He thought mainly about the mystery that was his so called_ love life..._

Since they were kids, Naruto always had a crush on Sakura. He would always go above and beyond for her, even if she never saw it as such. Hinata was his secret admirer for the same amount of time, until she actually confessed her true feelings for him. He thought about pursuing something with her briefly, but now seeing her with Sasuke paints a much better picture in his mind.

So then it leaves him to wonder about Sakura and Ino;_ what about them?_ He never really expressed his emotions to a girl before. When he finally got see his parents, the advice he got was just to try to find a girl like his mother. He slumped on the tree stump, and stared up at the evening summer sky. This was all way too complicated to figure out...

Ino was like a little sister to him. But recently, there were times where he found himself developing deeper feelings. The kicker, was that they might even rival those of what he had for Sakura! She was funny, spunky, and able to handle her own. Not to mention, she looked very beautiful- at least _to him_ she was anyway. It wouldn't be so bad to be in a relationship with her, they would always find time to laugh and smile. But she probably just thinks of him as a brother...

He groaned as he folded his arms in frustration, this was too much deep thinking for one day.

"_I'm shocked you're actually able to sit still for once..."_

He sat up to see who it was, Shikamaru came by and looked down at him. "You don't have a mission or training session to go to?" He raised a brow.

"Nope. Tsunade gave me the day off today, so I hung out with my team by the river. What are you doing sulking around the old training grounds?"

Shikamaru reached into his pocket and passed him a sealed envelope. "From Tsunade herself, try to be on time would ya?"

Naruto smirked and read the summon. "No promises, you know me."

"Just do it... Ino and I are going to be there too. This is kind of important Naruto."

"How important?"

"You really think Tsunade would go out of her way, to make sure _my lazy ass_ gets_ your lazy ass_ to show up tomorrow?"

"Hm good point. I'll do my best to show up on time."

He sighed as he leaned against a tree. "Good. What were you even thinking about so intently anyway? For a minute I actually thought you were concentrating."

"Heh, you'll laugh when I tell you about it but-... I was thinking about girls..."

Shikamaru snorted. "Wow, here I thought you only had eyes for Sakura... There's actually _another one?"_

"Was my crush that obvious?!"

"Seriously, how could we not know? You ogled over Sakura for so long."

He pouted. "Damn..." 

"Let me guess, you still haven't told either of these girls how you felt. And now you're stuck trying to figure out who's the right one?"

"You just love reading me like a book don't you..." Naruto grumbled.

Shikamaru smirked. "If the book is an easy read. So, who's the other girl?"

Naruto quickly started to blush a bit. "Er- It's Ino..."

He raised a brow. "So you are confused between Ino and Sakura huh? Well good luck with that." He shrugged.

"WHAT!? THAT'S IT?!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I'm not a doctor you moron, and girls can be a huge drag. You got yourself into this for some reason, so I'm sure you'll be able to get yourself out."

Naruto Huffed. "Tch, says the one getting married..."

"That's a drag too, so much planning... But seriously, you're overthinking this. Just be yourself and do what you do best, _improvise_."

"Hmm, improvise huh? I guess I could give it a shot..."

"Just don't miss, you should know how women get when they're pissed..." Shikamaru warned. "Especially _those two_..."


	9. Chapter 9

_Early in the afternoon..._

_All eyes in the room went wide, as they just heard the announcement that Tsunade told to Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Naruto, Shikamaru and Rock Lee._

"_Un- Believable!" Shikamaru still reeling from the fact._

"_This isn't a joke- is it Lady Hokage?!" Lee asked._

_She shook her head. "Not in the slightest."_

"_You really made the decision already!?" Kiba questioned._

Tsunade grinned. "_I went over it with Shizune and Kakashi this morning, I'm absolutely positive with my choice."_

_Naruto looked as though he was about to faint, he still couldn't believe what he just heard. Tsunade made the pre-announcement that the next hokage will be him. He glanced over at Ino, who looked as though she was going to burst into tears. He was about to say something to her, when she jumped and hugged him tightly._

"_CONGRATULATIONS YOU BIG GOOF!" She cheered._

_He almost fell over from the hug, but he caught her midway and hugged back; after realizing that her tears were of joy and not sadness. He chuckled and was even on the verge of tears himself._

"_Bahahahaaa!! We have to celebrate guys! No, we're __**going**_ _to celebrate! Tonight!" He announced to the group._

_The room was filled with happiness for Naruto, as he carried Ino out of the hokage's tower bridal style. Tsunade warned them not to party too hard, because they still were shinobi and would have work to do tomorrow. He also made a quick reminder to Hinata to invite Sasuke, he had to invite his best friend of course._

...

They had a party around 8 p.m. at Ichiraku's. There was plenty of ramen and sake going around as the night went on. He was shocked to see how much Ino could actually drink, even more shocked when Sasuke decided to give a toast in his honor. It was such a good night for him, and everyone overall. He swore he even saw Sasuke smiling a couple of times tonight, so this must be a _very _good night indeed.

As the night went on they grew more and more intoxicated. Naruto watched with blurred vision, as Rock Lee and Kiba were passed out on the floor. Ino fell asleep on Shikamaru's shoulder so he carried her back home via piggyback. Still in a drunken daze, Naruto was laying on his back on one of the tables as he faintly heard voices murmuring behind him. From the sounds of it, there was a man and a woman talking.

"_A-Are you sure?"_

"_Don't worry I'll drop the dobe off at my place, and I'll walk you home..."_

Sasuke was the only one he knew of that called him dobe, but the woman still remained a mystery as he blacked out from that point on. When he woke up, his head was killing him and he was not in his own apartment. It was too clean and rather bland looking, he groaned and slowly turned on to his side to the clock on the wall, it was 9:45 a.m.

"Good, you're up. You should take a shower or something, you smell like broth and sake. Tsunade's expecting us in fifteen minutes." Sasuke was drinking his coffee already dressed and ready to go.

The blonde refused to leave the comfort of the couch, until Sasuke went over and literally kicked him off. "_Now_ Naruto."

"Ahhh! Alright Alright! I'm going geez..." He whined as he got up. "Just, don't mention to Sakura why exactly I have a hangover-"

"I'm leaving..." Sasuke was putting his shoes on and heading out the door.

"OKAY! I'M HURRYING TEME!" Naruto rushed to the bathroom.


	10. Chapter 10

Ino practically spent the whole day in bed, after last night's little celebration with a hangover. If it wasn't for Hinata coming over to visit, she really would have just stayed home all day. A quick trip to the bath house made it all the better.

"Ughhhh! I feel like a dummy for doing all of that!" She sank deeper in the hot water. "Was I really that drunk?"

Hinata gave a nervous smile and nodded. "Don't worry, I don't think Naruto will blame you. It was a party after all."

She pouted while blushing. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore Hinata! I think I like him, but I see him more as a brother type and it's just _so confusing_!"

"Well, how often do you spend time with him?"

"I'm-... Not too sure. I'd say whenever we can meet up, why?"

"Maybe if you spend more time with him, it'll help with your conundrum."

Ino perked up. "You think so?"

Hinata nodded. "It's how Sasuke and I grew close."

"Hm I don't see why not, but what should I do or say to him?"

"Say whatever you want. If he's like a brother, then it should be easy to talk to him about anything. Just don't force yourself to over do anything."

Ino nodded. "Yeah of course! It should be no sweat, you're absolutely right Hinata."

She smiled. "I'm glad I could help."

"So how are things with Sasuke?"

Hinata perked up a bit before blushing. "Ah, things are-... Okay for the most part-! We um, spoke a little last night at the party an-"

Ino inched closer to Hinata in excitement. "Did you two hit it off?! Like actually talk face to face!? What happened!?"

"It wasn't e-exactly face to face, but yes! I um-... I guess you could say we did kind of- _hit things off_?"

Ino had huge grin on her face. "Excellent! See? I told you things would work out! You actually got to see Sasuke- wait a minute. Isn't that_ against_ what Tsunade said?"

Hinata twiddled with her fingers a bit before answering which left Ino wide eyed. "Woooow! Hinata I'm actually impressed! Who would have thought _you_ to be such a rebel!"

Hinata quickly hushed Ino in embarrassment. "I-It was just for the night Ino! I don't want to make a habit out of it!"

"Still though, good freak'n job! Didn't know you had it in ya. Although, you know what that means right?"

"Eh?"

"It means you'll want to do it again and again until-"

Hinata panicked. "I didn't mean for it t-to happen! Oh goodness! Ino no I can't! I-I don't want to do it again-! I just wanted to see him so badly I-!"

"Hinata that's _NORMAL! _That's what couples are_ supposed_ to do, even guys like Sasuke know that. You naturally want to see him cause you are in _love!_ Hello???"

Hinata slumped in the warm water. "I also don't want to- over complicate things."

"Neither do I but- look where we are? Over complicated things follow us wherever we go it seems, but it's not totally bad. This is your tenth letter right?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Then you have twenty-one more left, you've made progress!"

"But, what about you?"

"Me? Well, with me I have determination now. I'm going to figure out my feelings! True or not, I will find out one way or another." Ino grinned with confidence.

Hinata smiled and nodded in agreement.

Later in the afternoon when they parted ways, Hinata explained that she was going to the library in the hokage tower to do a bit of research for an upcoming mission. Ino in turn decided to spend the last hours of daylight on the training grounds. Usually she's with someone, but she didn't seem to care that she was alone this time. She was there for about an hour, before she heard Naruto and Sakura come by. Sakura informed her that they had a meeting with Tsunade prior. She said would have been by sooner, but it wasn't a problem as Ino welcomed the two to train with her. The three of them got in a good 3 hours of training before they opted to head home.

Ino invited them over since she was cooking tonight. She made more of the meat buns and onigiri that Naruto seemed to like, from before back when he was in the hospital. With a wave goodbye and thanks for dinner they were both out the door and on their way home.

"Wait! Naruto!" Ino called out.

"Huh? What's up Ino?"

"If you aren't busy... Do you want to, you know- hang out tomorrow?"

He raised a brow before smiling. "Sure! Let's do it! Want to meet up at the training grounds?"

She wasn't expecting that response, she blushed and grinned. "Definitely! I'll be there!"

They waved goodbye as she closed the door, still giddy over the success of her plan to spend more time with Naruto. With a smile stuck on her face, she was able to sleep better dreaming of how fantastic tomorrow was going to be.


	11. Chapter 11

"18! 19! And- 20!" Ino panted as she completed a rep of twenty sit ups as she waited for Naruto.

It was 10 in the morning when Ino arrived, she was a bit more eager about this than usual. She wanted to leave a good impression, so she did some warm ups just to be on the safe side: Sit ups, push ups, and a couple other stretches kept herself lean and limber. She was starting to like it a little. Knowing Naruto's skills, she didn't want to appear totally weak either.

She gave a heavy sigh wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I really hope he didn't forget... Maybe he's got a mission." She pouted before she noticed Sasuke sprinting through the trees above in a bit of a hurry. "Hm, interesting..."

"Hey Ino!" Sakura called moments later.

She turned her attention to Sakura, who seemed to have been looking for the rushing Uchiha. "Sakura? Whats going on?"

Sakura to a moment to catch her breath. "I have medication from Tsunade-sama to give to Sasuke, but he's so quick! And it's hard to catch up with him. Did you happen to see him around here?"

Ino paused for a moment. "I was too busy doing warm ups to pay attention sorry. I'm sure he'll turn up eventually."

She gave a heavy sigh. "Yeah I guess... I just hopes it helps."

Ino tilted her head. "What's this medication for anyway?"

"Migraines. Sasuke's been getting them a lot recently, I'm worried."

Internally Ino rolled her eyes, but she just folded her arms. "Sasuke's sure to be around the village _somewhere_. So I wouldn't be too concerned... By the way, have seen Naruto around?"

"Uh, yeah actually. He should be on his way here. He was stuffing his face with Choji and Shikamaru, I thought you would be with them for breakfast."

Ino began plotting to kill her teammates in her mind. They were ruining _her _hangout day! _The nerve!_ "I see... Thanks Sakura."

"No problem Ino."

She went back to doing some more warm ups in a bit of frustration. She wasn't going to let Naruto off the hook that easily when he got there! He came roughly ten minutes after her conversation with Sakura. Naruto was huffing and panting, seeing how he ran all the way there. Ino played off her excitement with the disappointment of his late arrival as had her arms crossed at him.

"Ah sorry! I was with your teammates and I lost track of the time!" He gasped.

"Humph! You need work on your memory skills, but better late than never."

He gave a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head. "Eheheh! My bad Ino, I'll make it up to you starting now. Tell me what you want to work on."

"What I want to work on?"

"Yeah! You know like combat, or different jutsu, or anything really."

"Well I guess some combat training would be nice, you don't need to warm up or anything?"

"I'll be fine, don't you worry."

"Okay. If you say so."

He grinned as he go into a fighting stance. "Alright, give me your best shot!"

She smirked and got into a fighting stance as well and charged at him. For thirty minutes, they traded blows against one another. Ino fully realized the extent of just how strong Naruto has gotten over the years. She felt herself being more on the defensive side of their spar, dodging and countering his blows the best she could. But she was determined, she wasn't going to give up so easily. Ino played defense while making sure not to give him any weak spots to attack. Naruto even took notice as he soon upped the level of how difficult their fight was.

"_Damn he's really good, but I'm not weak anymore either!" _Ino thought to herself while panting.

"Heh, Ino if you're _tired_ we can stop~!" He teased.

She huffed. "I'm far from tired!"

She lunged at him preparing to strike him with a roundhouse kick, but Naruto's reaction time was better in that he was ready with a counter. Only this time, his counter did more than what was expected. He overcompensated for her attack and somehow managed to tackle her to the ground.

Thankfully, they were on the grass so no one was seriously injured. _ From an observer's perspective_? It seemed far from innocent, because Naruto's hands were perfectly resting over top of Ino. She went very red very quickly on her face, as she watched Naruto blank expression quickly turn to panic.

"Shit! Shit! Sorry! I uhhhh-! I got a little out of hand there heheheh!" He quickly tried to play it off so he would get a beat down from her.

"_Was the pun really necessary?_" She asked, still beat red in the face but she tried to dismiss it as being embarrassed.

"Aha-... Gomen, honestly if this were Sakura she'd kick my ass by now..."

"Well, don't think I won't next time. Oh, and by the way-... You can let go of my hands now Naruto." She was truly trying now to let her feelings get the better of her.

He tilted his head before quickly realizing the gravity of the situation. He quickly got up while letting go of her hands. He too had started blushing at this, but Ino sat up and pouted at him.

"Wh-What I do now?!"

"You're not gonna help a lady up either? My god how rude!" She crossed her legs and sat there on the ground rolling her eyes.

Naruto was extremely perturbed right now, as he grew more and more flustered by her confusing behavior. "I-I was getting there, I would have helped you up!" He protested.

Ino kept her unamused silent demeanor, which caused even more confusion for poor Naruto. So instead of doing something simple like Ino thought, he carried her up right off the grass. If Ino wasn't blushing enough, she was extremely red now. She even let out a shriek of embarrassment.

"NARUTO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"I WAS JUST HELPING YOU UP! ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU WANTED?!"

"NOT LIKE THIIIS!"

He wasn't winning. No matter what he tried, things just weren't going in his favor it seems. Not wanting to frustrate her more, he easily put her down fully pink at the cheeks. Ino looked at him, she calmed down to a simple blush at the cheeks as as well.

She cleared her throat. "Sooo uh- now that that's over... What should we do now?"

"I don't know... Want to grab lunch?"

"Okay."

The atmosphere was awkward at first when they left the training grounds, but Naruto remedied the occasion.

"Say uh Ino, what did you think of the combat training?" He piped up.

"Huh? What did I think? You beat me remember?"

"Well kinda, but I mean how do you think _you _did?"

"Mmmm, I could use more combat training to be honest. I'm not like Sakura who can tear down walls with her fist, or like Hinata with her kekkei genkai."

He frowned. "Maybe, but don't compare yourself to others like that Ino! Especially your best friends!"

"But you have to admit it's somewhat true..."

"No it's not."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because Hinata had to train hard to become strong too! She didn't naturally become good with her Byakugan. And the same could be said about Sakura. Tsunade-sama trained her, so I know there was a lot of work involved with that. You're not the only one who has to train hard to become strong."

She gave a small sigh. "Yeah that's true."

"Also, you've got that cool mind transfer jutsu! That's something only your family knows how to do. Not to mention, you know a thing or two about medical stuff like Sakura. So I'd say all of you have something that makes you strong, and you should feel proud about it and want to get better!"

She felt a smile creep on her face as his kind words hit close to home. "Thanks for that Naruto..."

"Hey don't stress over it, I had fun sparring with you. If you want we could do it again more often if you want." He grinned.

She nodded as they approached one of the restaurants. "I'd like that."

Ino had picked out a tea shop for lunch. They saw Shikamaru with his new wife Temari inside as well. It was fine until they both started to poke fun at the potential of them dating. Naturally, Naruto and Ino played it off as just a day of hanging out as friends. It was Shikamaru who was enjoying the opportunities of poking fun at his teammate, while Temari was more subtle and nonchalant about it.

Before they left, Temari turned to Ino and gave a playful wink and whispered. "_Good choice."_

Ino quickly got up and left the tea shop as well with a confused Naruto tailing behind.


	12. Chapter 12

Ino inspected the outfit she picked out from her closet, and held it against her body as she looked in the mirror. "So, what do you think? Too much?"

Sakura shook her head. "No way, it looks cute! I like it."

Ino still wasn't satisfied. "Are you sure? I feel like it might be too much..."

Sakura pouted. "Ino, it's just one night with Naruto, don't stress over it."

Ino tossed the outfit aside, and slumped on the couch flailing her arms like a child throwing a tantrum. "I know, but it feels like the total opposite!"

Sakura laughed a bit at Ino's dismay, all in the name of teasing of course. "And here I thought_ I_ was the worrier." 

In turn the Yamanaka only stuck her tongue out at Sakura. "Oh ha ha! But I seem to remember a certain pink haired genin, doing the same thing over a certain Uchiha..."

Sakura giggled. "Relax, I remember the feeling all too well. You wouldn't let me live it down back then, so just think of this as payback."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah, enjoy it while it lasts. I just want to be ready for tonight is all..."

"You mean for your _date?~"_ Sakura teased.

"_Not. A. Date!" _Ino hissed behind her blush.

Sakura raised a brow. "Really? Let's check the list: _Picking out something nice to wear? _Check! _Worrying over the whole ordeal?_ Check! _Getting all flustered when I mentioned it?-_"

Ino pouted and turned on her side. "_Dates_ are for couples Sakura. You know that."

"So?"

"_So_, Naruto and I _are not_ a couple. So, this obviously can't be considered a date."

She smirked. "Are you sure about that Ino?"

"I-..." Ino cursed to herself internally. "I dunno-... The situation is confusing."

"How so?"

"Because! I don't know how he feels, and he doesn't know how I feel! Plus, I don't want to go out of my way and say '_Hey Naruto,_ _I like you!_' when he might just see me as a sister..."

Sakura paused as she thought for a moment. "But what if it's Naruto that says it first? Do you see him as a brother?"

Ino couldn't bring herself to answer that question truthfully. She wanted to say yes, but she just wasn't sure about it all quite yet...

"And there lies the problem." Sakura concluded.

Ino gave a hard sigh. "Yeah Hinata gave me the same speech already. It's a painfully slow process of getting to know him. And if _he_ makes the move first, I want to have my feelings in order so I can be honest with him." She explained. "I want to be _absolutely_ sure about how I feel about him. Right now, I'm just- a mess..."

"How big of a mess?"

She turned to Sakura with a rather serious look. "There are times when I get all warm and fuzzy with him. But then there are times when I just want to laugh and hang out with him. When we were sparing, my face was red like a rose cause he tackled me! Oh! Did I forget to mention that _he held me in his arms too_!? Sakura this is a _HUGE_ mess!"

Sakura gave a nervous smile and patted her friend on the shoulder. "Naruto is a crazy one I'll admit, but he's not as complicated as you think Ino. He's very compassionate, in anything he sets his mind to. He will go above and beyond for those he cares about. Even though he's dense about things like love, he'll follow his heart and make the right choice. You don't have pull your hair out over him..."

Ino raised a brow. "You really think so?"

Sakura grin. "I know so."


	13. Chapter 13

Naruto gave a heavy sigh as he headed for the shower. He didn't realize how late it was, until he got back to the village from a mission with Tenten and Hinata. He let the warm water hit body, as he thought about the evening he's going to have with Ino.

"_Ino, remember how the last time when we hung out it wasn't really a date?"_

"_Yeah. Why?"_

"_Well, I want to uh- actually have one. You know, a real one."_

_She blushed. "Naruto, are you asking me on a date?"_

_He nodded. "I told you I'd make it up to you."_

"_Well then, I'll say yes. When will you pick me up?"_

_He wasn't expecting her to accept so easily, so he was blushing a bit. "I have a mission, but I should be back tonight. Is that okay?"_

"_Sounds like a plan!"_

After his shower, he scrambled to find the cloths Kakashi lent him, when he told his sensei about this emergency date. Thankfully, he found them folded away in his closet:

It was a fresh new white button down shirt, with a pair of black dress pants and dress shoes. He wanted to make himself look better than his usual attire after all. He combed his hair the best he could too.

Walking down the road, he quickly fixed his collar and tried to remain as cool as possible. This was for Ino after all. She was like a sister to him, but his nerves grew anxious the closer he got to her home. With a deep breath, he gave a knock on the front door.

"_It's n__o big deal right? She's a good friend! It's fine!"_ He tried to assure himself. 

Ino came out to greet him, but it caused him to take back everything he said prior: 

She was wearing a violet dress with little frills on the bottom. She had her platinum blonde hair down instead of in her usual ponytail. Naruto could help but to stare and blush. 

"I-Ino you look-... G-Great!" 

She smirked. "Goodness, don't get _too_ excited now. We didn't even do anything yet."

He came back to reality and cleared his throat. "Er- Right! I meant to say, you look lovely this evening." He tried to play it off.

She giggled. "Thank you, but you're still a goof."

"_Dammit, this is gonna be hard!"_

Their date started off with a stroll through the village's main strip. They walked past the various stores and buildings. Ino couldn't help but blush, when she noticed the other couples out and about tonight. Not to mention, she was very impressed by Naruto's new attire he chose for tonight. 

"I must say Naruto, you cleaned up nicely." She chimed.

"Thanks. Figured you'd probably want me dress better than what a normally wear, while being all smelly after a mission."

"Oh, how'd it go if you don't mind me asking?"

He shrugged. "No big deal, just a delivery to Kirigakure. Hinata was in a rush so it went by in a breeze."

She smiled. "That's good, but I have one more question."

"Yeah?"

"Where exactly are you taking me for this date of ours?"

He panicked, he should have thought this all the way through! Taking her to Ichiraku's seemed too cliche, and they've both eaten there enough times already. "Er-! It's a surprise! You'll see~!" He answered quickly.

She looked a bit confused, but shrugged it off as he lead the way. Naruto took them to a place he hasn't been to since he was a kid: 

It was a clearing which lead to a pound. The moon was in the water's reflection and some fireflies were hovering around with their lights flickering. Both Naruto and Ino were not expecting the area to be filled with such beauty. He made a mental note to thank his lucky stars for such an event.

"So, what do you think Ino? Like it?"

"No you goof, I love it!" She marveled. "You definitely surprised me."

"_I'm surprised myself..."_ He thought behind his grin. "Awesome! When I said I was gonna make it up to you, I was gonna make it special!"

She found herself giggling while a her cheeks started to turn pink. "There you go again."

He raised a brow. "Again with what?"

"Making a girl blush. You know how to do that so well ya know."

"Isn't that a good thing then?"

"For you maybe, for me I don't know."

He sighed as he sat on the dock swinging his feet. He patted a spot for her to sit and join him while watching the fireflies over the water. Ino couldn't help but feel a bit bad. Maybe she accidentally said the wrong thing _again. _Now she felt as though she jeopardized all chances of _ever_ starting something more than just good friends. 

She was about speak, but Naruto spoke first.

"Do you like fireflies?"

"Wh- Huh?"

"The fireflies. Do you like'em?"

"I'm not big on bugs, but yeah I like fireflies. We used to put them in jars when we were kids remember?"

"Mhm! And they say if you saw a bunch of them come out at night, it meant that someone's gonna fall in love very soon."

Ino hugged her knees. "Hmm, you don't say... Well they're out right now. Wonder who the lucky couple is?"

"I can take a pretty good guess and say that Sasuke is it."

Ino giggled a bit. "Really? You support Sasuke and Hinata too huh?"

"Oh absolutely! I say, it's about time he found someone so he can finally calm down and relax. It took someone really special to melt that _block of ice _ he calls his heart. I'm glad Hinata could do it."

"That's true, but what about you?"

"Eh- Me?"

"Yeah, what kind of girl can get into your heart?"

He started to blush a bit. "I- Never really gave it much thought about what _kind of _girl. Not that I don't care! I just- I'm not that picky! Hinata warmed Sasuke's heart, because she's so kind and she cares a lot about him. Shikamaru and Temari got together because of how smart they were and he liked her spunky attitude. With me? I don't really need anything fancy or special about a girl. I would just want her be herself." He answered before scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about all that rambling." He gave a nervous chuckle.

She shook her head. "No, you weren't rambling to me. I get it actually. You want a girl who you can be yourself with."

He mentally wiped the sweat from his brow as he grinned. "Uh-huh. I may be a big dreamer, but I'm a simple guy deep down."


	14. Chapter 14

Naruto was definitely in better spirits after last night's date with Ino. He was still grinning from the kiss on the cheek he got, after he took her home. He felt that today was going to be a good day after a successful night like that.

"Oi. If you keep that up, your face will stay that way." Sasuke reprimanded. 

"_Like that would be such a tragedy for you..._" Naruto remarked sarcastically.

"It would be an even _bigger _tragedy, if we fail this delivery because you wanted to be a lovestruck dobe."

It didn't hit Naruto until now, that they were heading in the opposite direction of where their delivery was suppose to go. They were told to head to the Land of Waves, but Naruto was leading them half way to Kusagakure.

"Wh-?! Why the hell didn't you stop me then Teme!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"What the fuck do you think I've been trying to do?! You're too thick headed to hear me!"

He gave a heavy sigh and changed directions, but Sasuke groaned as he shook his head in shame at his teammate. "You are _still _going the wrong way! Don't tell me you actually forgot where we were heading."

"O-Okay! I won't then!"

The Uchiha rubbed his temples as he contemplated kicking Naruto's ass. "We're heading to the Land of Waves. We have to deliver these documents. _You're name is Naruto._ _You are a total dobe._ " He informed with heavy sarcasm. "Any of this sound familiar to you yet?"

That earned a pout from the Uzumaki. "You don't have to be so harsh about it. I don't get that mad when you get all weird about Hinata." 

"You mean to tell me, Sakura still has you distracted on missions?" Sasuke asked while going in the _proper_ direction this time.

"Actually, it's not Sakura this time..."

"So you started dating Ino?"

Naruto blushed a bit. "N-No no! We're not dating! How do you even know about that?!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You drooled over her when she wore a dress. You also gave her a flower, and asked her out. Do I need to continue this list of obvious signs that you like her?"

"No... I get it, but we're not actually dating. At least-... Not officially or properly."

"I see. You have no idea what you're doing huh?"

"Sasuke, why are you being so mean about it!? If this is still about going the wrong way, I said I'm sorry!"

Sasuke gave a heavy sigh. "Hn."

"And to answer your question, yes. Okay? I have no clue what I'm doing."

"That's not new, but now you're actually trying to make a difference this time."

Naruto only continued to pout as they walked on. "Oh ha ha! Like _you're _doing any better?"

"At least I have only _one girl _I actually like..."

"_Only one..." _Naruto grumbled. "I didn't ask for all of this you know!"

"Do we_ ever_ ask for the problems that we face?"

"No but-"

"Then stop whining about it, and fix the problem."

"Well fine then! Since you seem to be _oh so knowledgeable with romance,_ _tell me oh wise one! How_ do I fix this problem?"

Sasuke shot a glare to the blonde. "First off- if you keep that up, we're fighting. Next, just ask Ino out and be done. Or if you really want to keep your feelings for Sakura, ask her out instead."

"That's easy for you to say! What would _you_ do if you were me?"

"Obviously date the one I actually feel attracted to. The problem is, you still like them both as friends. That's why it's so difficult."

Naruto thought about it for a bit while walking. "You know, that makes sense. Since when did you suddenly get so wise?"

"The same moment when you decided to ask me for advice on romance."

Naruto huffed. "Mehh! Always gotta be the sarcastic teme. By the way, how are things with Hinata anyway?"

"For the most part things are alright, besides the annoying migraines."

Naruto shook his head in disbelief. "You've lost your arm and didn't complain, but migraines are annoying you now? How did you even get them in the first place?"

"I don't know and I don't care honestly. Tsunade gives me medicine for them, so it helps take the edge off. And as long as Sakura can refrain for bothering me, it all works itself out. Plus, I don't want Hinata to worry over me."

"Tch, wow. The famous Sasuke-teme is going soft. I'm actually impressed."

"You know, I'm very close to stopping right where we are- _and kicking your ass_..."

"Okay okay! Still as violent as ever I see..."

"Just come on so we can finish the mission dobe. Hopefully you'll be able to figure out what to about your girlfriend situation, by the time we get back."


	15. Chapter 15

Naruto sighed, relaxing comfortably on his bed. With no missions today, it meant that he could take it easy. The timing couldn't be any better either. Soon, Tsunade is going to announce to the public that _he _will be the next hokage. He also made a mental note to get her a gift before that happens. Naruto cared a lot for his granny Tsunade, and it all seemed bittersweet:

She was wrapping up her days as the Godaime, making sure the village was safe and secure. She also made him a chunin when the war was over by her good graces. At times days seemed hard and tedious, but she was good at helping him to get better. Before long he was even bumped up to jounin like the rest of his group, and made him work his butt off to maintain that. He owed so much to Tsunade, it would only seem right to repay all her kindness. 

He also thought about the things he and Sasuke discussed. Their romantic issues were a good topic to talk about, while traveling to The Land of Waves. He nagged Sasuke about taking care of himself, so that way Hinata wouldn't have to worry. In turn the Uchiha told him to just go with what he knows is right when it came to finding _"the one"_. It seemed so simple in theory, but they both knew it was far more complex...

He cared a great deal for Sakura over the years, but it seemed that she still had her feelings geared towards Sasuke. He should have gotten over the feelings and moved on, but for some reason he still finds himself thinking about her. Then there was Ino. She was like a sister to him! They always had fun together, and were enjoyed each other's company. There were also new feelings that he started to have for her. They weren't the same as the ones for Sakura, they were deeper and felt softer.

He tossed and turned on to his side, checking the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was 4:30 pm. Time went by faster, even when he wasn't doing much it seemed.

Scrambling to reach the cabinet drawer, he pulled out a notepad and a pen and started to write a meaningful thank you note to Tsunade. He had to make sure this was really sentimental:

_To Tsunade-Baachan,_

_How do you say thank you to a person who literally saved my life when I was younger?_

_How do you say thank you to the best medical ninja, but really sucked at slots? I don't really know, but I'm going to try with this: Thank you so much._

_No one else could lead the village like you have. We wouldn't have made it without the tremendous strength of our hokage! You chose me to take over when there were others who could do so much better... I still don't know what to say honestly, but from the bottom of my heart, I am forever thankful. Having you as the grumpy alcoholic baachan, is the best feeling in the world, so I hope I make you proud. _

_Naruto._

Reading over it, he seemed pretty proud of how well it turned out. He smiled and sealed it in the envelope, but all that was left was a gift. There was one thing that came to mind and it seemed perfect to Tsunade. He threw on some cloths and went to the jewelry store. He was eyeing the various necklaces that were on display behind the glass. 

He remembered seeing a particular necklace with a yellow topaz hanging from it, but he didn't have enough for it back then. Now with all the money he's saved up from missions, he was finally able to afford it. With luck, it was still in the display case and he immediately bought it. He grinned ear to ear while walking back home, even waved hello to team 10 as they were walking by. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that he dropped the rather expensive gift, until he was already at home. He screamed as he face palmed while landing back in bed. _So much for a good day..._


	16. Chapter 16

Ino pensively stood in front of Naruto's apartment door. She held a small box in her hands, as she tried to calm herself down. It was 6 o'clock now, and she was returning the necklace Naruto accidentally dropped earlier. 

"Hopefully he's home..." She said softly while letting out a sigh. "Come on! I'm just returning a necklace, it's no big deal!" She reminded herself as she knock on his door. "Narutooo! It's me are you there?"

At first there wasn't a response, but then she heard the shuffling of feet from the other side, as he came to the door. Thankfully, Naruto was home and answered. "Eh Ino? What's up?" 

She took note of the faint face-palm mark on his face and giggled a bit. "My god, how hard did you hit yourself?"

"Oh that... I messed up and lost Tsunade-sama's thank you present."

She smirked and held out the box to him. "I know you clumsy goof, it's right here."

His eyes went wide. "Ino! You found it!!!"

"Yeah, you dropped it while you were saying hi. I was gonna give it to you earlier, but you left in a hurry." She huffed as she poked his chest. "Be more careful next time! This gift is too nice to lose so carelessly you know."

"Hm you're right, but seriously thank you so much for finding it. How do you want me to make it up to you?"

She was about to speak but her stomach growled softly. Naruto burst into laughter, as she quickly covered her stomach in embarrassment.

She pouted. "Shush you! I skipped dinner to return your gift!"

"How about this then, why don't I make you dinner?"

Ino tilted her head in disbelief. "_You_ know how to cook?"

"A little bit, but I'm not terrible at it. So what do ya say hmm?" He grinned at her.

She sighed and folded her arms. "Alright Naruto, show me your chef skills."

He gestured her inside his apartment. Looking around the room, he felt rather bad that he didn't clean up to make it look a bit more presentable. Normally, the guys come and don't care for the cleanliness of his place. Thankfully, it wasn't a total pigsty like it could have been: There were some shinobi tools litter on the floor, a few shirts sprawled in several scarred places, and a pile of papers near the bedroom. She wasn't totally disgusted by it either, so that was a good sign. Ino sat comfortably on the couch while she watched him cook.

"_If he actually knows how to cook ramen, I'm going to laugh."_ she thought to herself.

Whatever it was, it smelled pretty good. Who would have thought Uzumaki Naruto knew how to cook? He finally came over to her smiling with 2 bowls of food with chopsticks poking out from them.

"Annnnd done! I hope you like it." He handed her a bowl.

She nodded and inspected the dish he made. "Oyakodon? I haven't had this since I was little."

He split the chopsticks. "Yup! Before he died, the pervy sage told me how this was the dish my dad would make for my mom before she had me. Apparently she loved the stuff so much, she asked him to write down how he makes it. Hope I followed the recipe correctly."

"Well, you didn't burn your apartment to ground, so you did good so far..." She took a taste of his cooking and smiled with astonishment.

Naruto looked at her both confused and concerned. "So, how is it?"

"Not bad! This _is_ good Naruto." She chimed as she started to eat more.

He beamed with pride as he started to eat as well. Along with dinner, Ino even tried her hand at baking. She made sata andagi, but the process left the kitchen a mess. Flour got on the both of them, along with some of the many dishes and even onto the stove. It was a laughable process nonetheless, the sweets she made turned out delicious in the end. 

After they cleaned up the kitchen it was well into the night now. They were enjoying each other's company as they sat on the couch.

He chuckled. "Ino, you're cloths are still covered in flour." 

She rolled her eyes. "So are yours Naruto-baka..." 

"Don't you want to change out of them into something else?"

She shrugged. "Eh, I'll just change when I get home don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? _You'd have to walk home all covered in flour._" He said with a hint of sarcasm.

"You know I'd need a shower too Naruto... Are you trying to convince me to _stay the night_?" She taunted while leaning on his shoulder.

"That depends, would you _like_ to spend the night?" He asked with a sly grin and arched eyebrow.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt, but don't you get any funny ideas alright?" She turned and looked somewhat sternly at him.

"Y-Yes ma'am! Of course!" He nodded with a worried expression.

She returned to her cheerful expression. "Good, now I'll be in the shower if you need me~" She hummed.

He watched her get up and leave, as the sweat dripped nervously from his head. "_This girl..._" He thought while getting up. 

He had some pajamas that he never wore hanging in his closet: They were sky blue with chibi foxes on the pants and shirt. He wasn't sure if these were something a girl would like. Obviously they were for a guy, but there was only one way to find out.

Ino poked her head from bathroom, her hair wrapped in one of the towels. "So, about those spare cloths?"

He blushed. "R-Right right! Here, these are clean and you can try them on." He answered while his eyes were shut tight.

She quickly took the cloths and tried them on back in the bathroom. "They're cute but too big for me."

"Sorry about that, I can search for something else."

"No no, I can make it work." She finally came out of the bathroom the shirt looked more like a smock as the pants hung loosely around her waist. "See? No biggy!"

"But, you look really cute."

She started to blush a bit, as she grinned and rubbed the back of her head. "Oh come on, these are _your_ pjs remember?"

"Yeah but it doesn't change the fact that you look cute in them."

Ino quickly decided to changed the subject to avoid the encroaching awkwardness. "Sooo, aren't you gonna give me a pillow and blanket for the couch?" 

"The couch?_ I'm _gonna sleep on the couch, you can sleep in my room for the night."

"EH!?" Ino looked baffled as she turned pink in the face.

Naruto was equally confused. "W-What? I said you can sleep in the bed! That's what a host good would do right?!"

"N-Naruto no! Don't do that!"

"Why not?! A good host would let their guest have the bedroom! Plus-... It's not- you know... It's not right for me to sleep on my bed while you sleep out here." 

Ino's blush was growing worse as he continued this gentleman host routine. "I won't-! I'm not gonna hog your bed just because you wanna be a gentleman! I'm fine with the couch!" She persisted. 

"Well I'm not!"

She looked up at him as he was blushing when he said that. "_H__e would rather me have his bed..._" She pouted while walking towards his bedroom doorway, not before motioning for him to follow. "Let's meet in the middle... A-And _share _y-your bed okay?" Her face still very pink.

"Are you- A-Are you sure Ino?"

"Yes, but let me remind you: _No funny stuff_!"

He just gave a nodded as he turned the lights off, following her. It was very strange at first. He had a decent full sized bed, so they weren't uncomfortably close. Ino curled up under the covers while she looked out his window. 

"Thank you."

"Hm?"

"I said thank you Naruto, for- doing this for me and all."

"Oh, no problem."

"Are you excited for tomorrow?"

"Hehe, sure am! I know Tsunade will have a huge party for the occasion with loads of alcohol. You know how she loves to drink."

She giggled. "Yeah, it's gonna be fun. Soon you'll be the real deal after that..." She mused. 

He nodded. "Yup, I'll really be almost there. Seems too good to be true..."

She turned and faced him. "Nonsense! You've worked your butt off to get where you are now. I say, it's about damn time you got the job!" she said. "You- You've really grown up, and came over the top too." She held a hint of sadness in her voice.

He looked at her for a bit "Ino?"

"Sorry. Call me sentimental I guess..." She said while she wiped away a tear.

She was going to turn back to facing the window, but Naruto held her arm and pulled him close for a hug. Ino could hardly breathe let alone speak as this happened without warning. She was now staring at his shirt covered chest with her cheeks red in the darkness.

"You don't have to be sad Ino. I kinda like it when you get sentimental. It shows how much you care and-... it means a lot to me. So, I should be thanking you... Thank you for caring about me like you have been all this time."

Ino was truly at a lot for words. She heard what he said, and had absolutely no idea how to reply to that. How could _anyone_ reply to such a statement? She felt more tears well up in her eyes so she just hugged him back, getting as close to him as possible.


	17. Chapter 17

_8 hours earlier..._

_The sun was shining through Naruto's apartment that morning. Naruto felt the hues beaming, as he sluggishly started to wake up. Taking a peek at the alarm clock it was 11:45 am, and Ino was still sound asleep curled in his arms. He smiled a bit. In truth, he didn't want to wake her. He was starting to like the feeling of cuddling with her. Alas, today was the big day. Eventually, they'd both have to get ready for it. He quietly got out of bed and picked up all the lingering dirty cloths for the laundry. The washing machine and dryer were next door, so he quickly washed his and Ino's clothes. After that, he started to make breakfast while they were getting cleaned. He made some toast with honey and butter on top along with some eggs for the both of them._

_Letting the food cool he ran into the bathroom for a quick shower and to brush his teeth. Ino eventually woke up to the sounds of the shower head hissing, and the smell of toast filling her nose. She rubbed some of the sleep out of her eyes, as she yawned to investigate the commotion._

"_Good job..." She mumbled to herself with a smile, while observing the breakfast Naruto had made. He even had a glass of milk poured for her too, what a gentleman! As she ate Naruto came out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist when he tried to greet her._

"_Morning Ino! I see you like the breakfast I made huh?"_

_She soon turned bright red as she shooed him into his bedroom to get dressed rather forcefully. He had to explain that the cloths were still in the washing machine. Still she persisted and pushed him into the room, insisting that she would get them when they were done._

_Later once the clothes were nice and clean, they were both dressed about to head out the door before Ino spoke._

"_Hold on, I think you should wait a sec."_

"_Why what's wrong?"_

"_Think about it: What would happen if someone saw us walking out of your apartment together?"_

"_Thaat. . . We're boyfriend and girlfriend? So what? Most think that already, when they see us hanging out together."_

"_Yeah, but what do boyfriends and girlfriends do?"_

_He thought for a moment before turning red at the cheeks. "Good-Point... I'll see you tonight right?"_

_She giggled. "Wouldn't miss it for the world!"_

Present time.

True to her word, Ino was there at the public gathering. Everyone from the village congratulated Naruto on his preparation of being the next Hokage. Tsunade was moved to tears by the gift and thank you card he gave to her. For now, it was a time of celebration and happiness with everyone.

While weaving his way through the crowd, Naruto finally found Ino. She was talking with some of the other villagers, while wearing one her more nicer summer kimonos.

"Well there's the_ future Hokage_ himself. What, all the popularity getting to you all ready?" She playfully teased.

"Heh! Well you know how it is, being a _hero_ and all." He gave a playful wink at her.

"_Ohh! You two look so nice together!" _

_"When's the wedding huh~?" _

_"How nice of the Future Hokage to flirt with his lady~."_

They both began to blush, and quickly dismissed the comments about their relationship status. And yet, the comments only continued as the night went on. They talked with their friends and drank sake with Tsunade. When the festivities were over, it was 11 at night. Ino was pretty tipsy, but thankfully Naruto didn't drink much during the celebration. He walked her home with ease. She was full of giggles as she teetered from side to side, when they walked. 

"Naruu-kun that was wonderful no?" She asked in a drunken tone.

"Yeah, it was pretty fun. You sure had _a lot_ of fun though." He chuckled.

She giggled and held a big grin at the other blonde. "You know what else is woonderfulll??"

"What?"

She would have tripped over herself, if Naruto hadn't been there to catch her. But she was laughing regardless. "Being-!_ With you_! It's the most wonderful thing-! In the _whoollle_ world!" She answered in between hiccups.

Even though he knew she was drunk, Naruto couldn't help but blush a bit when she said that while he held her. "Is that so?"

She nodded as she reached up and kissed him on cheek. "Very much so~"

He was not expecting that from her at all. He just turned and looked at her with the same baffled expression. Meanwhile, Ino nuzzled in the crook of his neck while letting out a small giggle. "Are you gonna take me home yet? You blushy goof~?"

He came back to his senses somewhat, and remembered that they were almost to her house. "Er-! Yeah yeah! We're almost there don't worry."

She pouted "Oh boo! I was hoping to have another sleepover with you tonight. It's not too late is it?"

"I-Ino... I don't know- I mean- You're kinda drunk and-..."

She tugged on his jacket. "Come on, please _Naruto-kun_?" She pleaded.

He started to sweat nervously looking down at her, it's hard to tell girls no. Especially the girl he actually _liked._ At times like this, he wished he had Sasuke's ice cold heart so he could make this easier. With a sigh of defeat, he turned directions and hopped rooftops to get back to his place quicker. 

Once there, he unlocked the door and sat her down on the couch. Ino sluggishly got up from the couch, and wobbled after him as he went back to his bedroom. He didn't realized she had followed him, until he met her with a kiss on the lips this time. He was in the middle of changing clothes too! If he wasn't ready for Ino's kiss on the cheek, Naruto _definitely_ wasn't ready for that kiss on the lips! Even if it felt amazing!

He could still taste some of the lychee sake from the party on her lips.

She pulled away about 45 seconds, and looked at him with her cheeks pink with blush.

"I-... Really wanted to do that you know." She whispered.

Naruto stared back at her with the same level of blush on his face like hers. He was practically speechless with that to say.

She put a hand on his face and caressed it softly. "Can I-... Do it _again_?"

Without giving any thought, he immediately kissed her back with a bit of force. "Yes". He answered in the midst of their kissing.

She moaned softly while their lips explored the taste of each other's skin. Naruto was leaving a wet trail along the right side of her neck as she peppered his cheeks. His hands found their way around her waist, and pulled her into a tight hug refusing to let go.

"N-Naruto..." she said breathlessly.

"Ino..." He sat down on the bed looking up at her while holding her hands.

He could see the blush growing more and more apparent on her face even in the dark. But at the same time, he saw tears starting appear too. He frowned, he didn't like to see her upset like this. Not after the good times they've had so far, never mind if she was drunk. She was truly starting to develop feelings for him, and he finally saw it now.

"This is messed up Naruto." She said softly. "I shouldn't have said those things- I'm so sor-"

He cut her off. "Don't apologize, if that's how you truly feel."

She held a tighter grip on his hands, trying in vain not to cry in front of him. "But, I wanted to be in better shape to tell you! Not half drunk like I am now..."

He shook his head and smiled. "Better late than never I say."

Her eyes went wide before she tackle hugged him to the bed, with tears streaming from her eyes. Naruto wasn't sure if this was good or bad, but he'll let it be for now. He gave a soft kiss on her forehead and cuddled her.

"I guess this is where I say I love you huh?" He playfully teased.

She laughed while wiping away her tears. "Yes you dummy! This is where you say it."

"Well alright then, I love you Ino."

"Tch, I love you too Naruto."


	18. Chapter 18

Today, everything felt... _Interesting_. 

Like the calm before the storm. Certain things in Naruto's life, felt as though it was preparing him for something major to happen. The problem with that, was he had absolutely no clue just_ what_ this major event was. It couldn't have been his induction, because Tsunade said that wouldn't happen for another five months. It wasn't anything related to another threat to the village, because more people would be concerned... 

But then there was Sasuke.

He took note of the Uchiha's less than normal behavior: One day he was moody. The next he's completely fine! Another day, he's ready to kill the first person that looks at him wrong! It was very strange, even for Sasuke to have these types of issues. So, Naruto took it upon himself to hopefully relieve some of the Uchiha's stress with some combat. After he saw him with Sakura, he could tell it was something Sasuke needed badly. The near annihilation of the old training grounds was proof enough.

"Sasuke wait! Before you destroy the training grounds, do you mind explaining why you're so pissed today!?"

He didn't say anything at first but then looked to Naruto. "I need a pen and some paper..."

Naruto only had more questions, but decided to go along and gave him a piece of notebook paper and a pen from his bag. "Okay okay! Here. "

He watched Sasuke grip onto the pen and fiercely began to write. Naruto was growing more and more concerned from this. Just what in the world was going on!? "Rough day huh?" He attempted to lighten the mood.

When Sasuke finally finished the pen broke in his palm snapping in two. He winced a bit realizing the cramps in his hand. "Damn it..."

"So it _is_ a rough day for you..."

He cracked his wrist and folded the piece of paper neatly before handing it off to Naruto. "Just give this to Hinata... Please..."

"Sure but- what's wrong? Did something happen between you guys?"

Sasuke started to walk ahead. "We slept together."

"EEHHHHHHH?!!? YOU?! A-AND H-HINATA?!"

The Uchiha winched at Naruto's loudmouth. "Yes! For Kami's sake Naruto, keep your voice down! Don't tell the whole fucking village!" He warned ash he was holding the side of his head.

Naruto flinched. "Sorry sorry! I just-... I didn't think you were going to do _that _so soon. You know with Tsunade's agreement and all-"

Sasuke held his grimace. "I don't fucking care about that stupid agreement anymore. I stopped caring ever since I got to see her that night at your party."

"Wow, you have some strong feelings for Hinata don't you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What else am I supposed to do, with the woman I've had sex with_ three times now_?" He asked with heavy sarcasm.

Naruto stopped dead in his tracked. "Threee?! Sasuke what the hell! I know you love her, but where's the self control!?"

"Naruto, when you are presented with something truly beautiful, you'll want to lose self control too. Don't try to act mature now. Besides, she didn't seem bothered by it..."

"I _cannot _believe it! _You,_ of all the people in the world-!_ Y__ou_ would do all of this for shy Hinata-chan."

"_Shy Hinata-chan is my girlfriend_ now so... I guess it's to be expected."

He chuckled. "Well that's good then. Kudos to you for toughing through all of this mess in one piece."

"_Oh, you're too kind."_

"Hey, I mean it. Just be careful, you don't want to trip and fall on your own ass for not paying attention." Naruto warned.

"_I'll take your words to heart, grand master."_

Naruto gave a mock pout. "You teme, you're just making fun of me..."

"You make it easy, and it's still fun after all these years."

He pouted as Sasuke smirked a little at him. "So did you finally pick between Sakura and Ino?"

"Uhmn... In a way, I did. I think..."

"And you made fun of me and my life choices..."

"I want to do this right okay? I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings or anything like that!"

"Sometimes accidents happen."

"Speak for yourself."

"And when it does happen, what will you do? You know that misery has habit of plaguing the both of us by now. We can cry about it, or actually do something to fix it."

"_You have such sage advice Sasuke-ojiisan~"_

"Dumb ass."

"Hee hee~! Smart ass."


	19. Chapter 19

Ino and Hinata sat in the tea shop not saying a word, both them still lingering back to their events from the weekend. This was supposed to be a hangout day, but it would seem that the two them were lost in their own thoughts about their significant others.

"S-So um-! Did you have a good weekend Ino?" Hinata was the first to ask.

Ino started to feel the blush creep on her face. Thinking back on certain things, made it hard to say sane. "Er- I- Yeah! Yeah it was good! I- had a good weekend. How about you?"

"I-I did too! It was n-nice..."

Ino nodded, as the waitress gave them their tea. Another five minutes of silence fell upon them before Ino broke it with a heavy sigh. "I'll be honest with you. This weekend, I've spent _two nights with Naruto at his place._" She finally confessed. "No funny business or anything like that! He made me dinner the first night and we cuddled, but the second night after the announcement celebration... Things got a little- weird..."

"Weird how?"

"I was drunk and unfortunately in my drunken state I-... _I kissed him _and we made out for a while! I think I accidentally confessed Hinata!" She panicked.

Hinata watched as her friend slumped her head on the table. This made her feel worse in comparison to _her adventure_ this weekend. "W-Well Ino, it's n-not as bad as you think."

The blonde poked her head up. "Huh?"

Hinata started to turn red out of her embarrassment as she twiddled her thumbs. "The day after our girls night, I-I want to deliver groceries to S-Sasuke-kun but..."

Ino started to raise a brow. "Hinata, _what did you do?_"

"It was so bad Ino! I wasn't ready for it!"

"Ready for wh- " Ino slammed her hands down on the table and went wide eyed in disbelief. "HINATA DID YOU AND SASUKE-?!"

Hinata stammered as she quickly hushed her friend. "Yes yes, it's true! H-He took my virginity! Please don't tell anyone Ino! We could get into serious trouble!!!"

Ino was completely shocked, Hinata was known to _everyone _as the shy, quiet, and innocent little virgin. Come to find out, she has slept with _Uchiha Sasuke_ as her first! "Oh. My. God... I never would have thought-! Of course I won't tell but-... Wow Hinata!" She took a bigger sip of her tea "That night must have been_ really special _for you huh?"

The Hyuga nodded sheepishly. "The first night was v-very special..."

"Wait a minute... _F__irst night? _Hinata what do you mean by _first night_?"

Hinata didn't say a word as she looked away. "We've- slept together... _Three times so far!_"

Ino choked on her tea by how shocked she was. Hinata panicked and tried to help her the best she could without causing a scene. "Ino! Oh no! I'm so sorry!! I'm really very sorry! Don't choke pleeease!"

"_Three_!?! _Three times_?! I can't-! I don't-! _Hinata I was horribly wrong about you!_"

Hinata was as red as a tomato at this point. "Ino nooo! It's not like that! I didn't mean it!!!" She protested.

Ino sighed. "Geeze, it seems we both have trouble with guys huh..." 

"Seems so..." Hinata agreed.

"Hmm, I guess by now this also means you're pretty serious with him too."

Hinata nodded. "What about you and Naruto?"

"We- He said _I love you_ to me... I said I love you too and- we just left it as that."

"Do you think, maybe it's time to take the next step?"

"What, o_h okay so because we said I love you , we're dating now! _I wish." Ino said while finishing her tea.

"Well I mean, _that's literally how Sasuke and I got together_..."

"That's a different story Hinata! You two had developed feelings for each other over time beforehand."

"But didn't you develop feelings for Naruto? If your story is true, then you had plenty of time to gain more than a crush on him."

Ino paused a bit recollecting on that night she was drunk. "He just felt sorry for me..."

"What?"

"He was being kind. Not because he meant it, he felt bad for me acting-"

"That's not Naruto."

Ino was taken back by Hinata's assertive cut in as she spoke again. "The Naruto I had a crush on, had genuine kindness. It didn't go away after we were genin. He would not have cared so much to say 'I love you', if he truly didn't mean it. If he told you that he loved you, he meant it wholeheartedly without a doubt."

"I-... I forgot about that. It was one of things that got me interested in him..." She smiled at Hinata. "You're absolutely right Hinata! I need to throw caution to the wind, and just be upfront with how I feel about him!"

Hinata grinned. "I'm glad."

"And as far as you and Sasuke go, hold on to it. You've got something great going between the two of you. There's only a couple more days before you'll be able to really be _reunited,_ if you catch my drift." She gave playful wink to Hinata and watched her blush in embarrassment.

They knew that the upcoming days were going to be rough, but they were preparing for it with smiles on their faces.


	20. Chapter 20

Sakura was with Ino while working in the hospital. There was an uneasy feeling between the two of them, as they were helping Tsunade tend to some patients. Sakura had Sasuke on the brain, when she told Ino about his worsening condition. Ino tried to console her worries, by saying that he will be fine. She also tried to warn her friend, that she shouldn't try to intervene with his relationship with Hinata... 

Of course, Sakura didn't seem satisfied with that.

"Honestly, this doesn't feel right Sakura..." Ino told her.

"I know, but it's the right thing to do Ino. This is for everyone's sake."

Ino kept a perplexed look to Sakura. "_Is _it? I mean, Sasuke's your teammate and all... Shouldn't you ask him how_ he_ feels about all this first?"

Sakura frowned. "I tried, but he's always in a hurry or off doing something else. He bottles everything in Ino, it's really not healthy at all."

Ino rubbed the back of her head. "It all just sounds so shady! I don't like all of this looming over our heads... Hinata's our friend too."

"She is. Which is why it would be the best choice for all of us, is if I fix it now before it gets worse. I don't like it either, but I'm sure things will turn out for the better."

Ino gave a weary look to Sakura before walking out of the hospital. The atmosphere felt too depressing. She knows that Sakura still has very strong feelings for Sasuke. She also knows the connotations that were attached. They had a rivalry, that nearly cost them their friendship when they were young. 

_She'd hate to see such a fate happen for a second time_. 

She thought back to what Hinata said about Naruto: _"He would not have cared so much to say I love you, he truly didn't mean it. If he told you that he loved you, he meant it wholeheartedly without a doubt.__"_

"Whether he meant it or not, I have to know! Mopping around won't solve anything!" She said to herself while walking towards his apartment.

Oddly enough, he was already outside of his home. The blonde Uzumaki, appeared to be checking to see if his door was locked.

Ino arched an eyebrow. "Naruto?" 

"Oh ho! I-Ino! How's it going?" Naruto stammered.

She put both hands on her hips. "Oh no, none of that shady behavior mister. What's going on with your apartment?" 

He quickly hushed her voice the best he could, but she still insisted upon entry. "Ino wait! You can't go in there! You'll wake'em up! Sasuke's a grumpy asshole when he doesn't get much sleep-!"

"S-Sasuke's in your apartment!?"

"Its a long story! I'll explain somewhere else-! Let's just go!" He grabbed her by the hand, and jumped on top of roof tops. They reached the stairs leading to the faces of the hokages. There he sat there with a sigh of relief, and was able to explain what happened between him and Sasuke.

Ino sat and shook her head in disbelief. "_Unbelievable._"

Naruto nodded. "Well believe it. Sasuke's a dying wreck over all of this, and he's too stubborn to admit that he needs help." 

"That's just terrific, Sakura's now taking things into her own hands too." Ino added. "Said she wants to_ make things right...."_ The sarcasm was heavy in her voice. 

"I don't think that's good news for anyone huh..."

"Not when she's still got feelings for Sasuke! Naruto, you have to stop her from doing this!" She pouted and pointed to him.

"EH!? _Me_!?"

"Yes! You! You're her teammate, you have to talk some sense into her! If anyone can do that its you!"

"I would! But I also have to deal with Sasuke the ticking time bomb remember? If I try to talk to her without taking care of Sasuke, who know's what that crazed teme will do!!"

They both had the image of Sasuke going insane, and kidnapping Hinata before sighing. This was a growing problem, with not enough time to fix it.


	21. Chapter 21

It was late in the afternoon, when Naruto watched the scene before him with mixed amusement. Sasuke had a horrid look on his face, combined with the lingering effects of his hangover. This was very funny, even though he knew better than to laugh at the situation. He was on cloud nine over the Uchiha's suffering.

"Wipe that smile off your face dobe..." Sasuke grunted, as he reached for some ginger ale.

"_What smile Sasuke-san~?" _Naruto teased.

His eyes continued to glare at Naruto, while turning over on his side. "Be glad I have this hangover. Otherwise, I'd be punching you in the face right now..."

"Yeah yeah, you're welcome teme. But I think you've got bigger problems now. _Much _bigger problems." Naruto hinted to Sasuke. 

"We've been over this, I'm not talking to Sakura about my issues. _Ever_."

"Damn it Sasuke! You're too stubborn for your own good! What if she says something to Hinata? Then what?!"

"Naruto, did you forget about what happenedthe _last time _I tried to have a conversation with her?"

Naruto couldn't be more baffled. "You'd seriously use the_ Rinnegan_ on her again?_"_

Sasuke paused a bit before speaking. "No, but that's not a bad idea..."

"Stop it. You're turning melodramatic all over again!"

"I'm sure you'd be the same damn way, if you had to deal with this."

"Well this can all be avoided if you just-"

"Naruto we're going in circles! This is stupid!"

"Well _you're_ the one with the hangover, _and _the migraines, **_and _**everything else that's going wrong!" He pointed at the sick Uchiha. "I'm just trying to help! Besides, don't you think you owe it to Hinata to get better? I'm pretty sure she's worried like hell over you right now."

Sasuke only grew more and more annoyed with Naruto's ranting, to the point of actively covering his ears. But even he couldn't deny that the blonde was actually making some sense. "She doesn't know."

"THAT MAKES IT WORST! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Naruto yelled.

"I don't **_want_ **her to know!" Sasuke hissed. "She has enough to worry about, I don't want her to worry any more than she has to. Especially over me..."

Naruto gave an exaggerated sigh. "I don't think you know Hinata as well as you thought. That's one of hermain qualities! She's a caring person! You've seen how she was when she had a crush on me! Now she actually loves you, and you're just gonna lead her in the dark!?" He was genuinely upset over his friend's behavior.

"So you think it's better for her to constantly worry about what might happen to me? To get her scared about my conditions? I know she's caring. Which is why I intently didn't tell her what was really going on." Sasuke explained. "If you choose to believe me or not, I really couldn't care less. But I actually do love her too Naruto. And I won't do that to her." He glared at the blonde half-assed because his right eye was twitching from not taking any medication today.

Naruto looked at his old teammate. He could have argued more, but he knew it wouldn't help anyone at the moment. "Shouldn't you tell her that then?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and slouched on his back. "What, get angry with her and use my frustrations to get my point across?"

"Hell no! Just be honest with her. You'd be surprised what happens when you speak from the block of ice that is your heart."

"Hn."


	22. Chapter 22

Over the days to follow, things were progressively getting worse. Ino sat with Hinata trying to console her. The Yamanaka's fear was realized as Hinata explained what Sakura had done: 

Sakura told Hinata about Sasuke's conditions, and that the _appropriate _option would be to end the relationship with him. Ino noticed the note Hinata recently wrote, and read it over. It was evident by the lingering tear streaks on the paper, Hinata was destroyed by all of this. 

"_I warned you not to get involved! Damn it Sakura! Why are you doing this?!" _Ino thought while she handed Hinata some tissues. "Hey Hinata, it'll be okay... There's gotta be a way to fix all this, I just know it." She tried to reassure her.

Hinata shook her head. "Sakura was right I-... I did this to him! I wasn't thinking clearly, when I said yes to that _st_-_stupid_ agreement!" She stammered. 

"Does anyone think clearly when they're in love?! No of course not! It's not your fault! Don't blame yourself like this..."

Ino was afraid something like this would happened, but she didn't think Sakura would actually go through with it. She was trying to keep the peace for the sake of their friendship after all. 

Unfortunately, that attempt had officially failed now. One friend was going behind the back of another, and Ino had to watch it all unfold. It felt just as bad as when they had their fallout when they were genin, but this was far worse:

_Hinata was about to lose the love of her life. Kami only knows what that'll do to Sasuke. From there it will domino right to Naruto, and back at Sakura. This was indeed a fucked up situation. _

The only silver lining to all of this, was that she didn't flat out dump him straight away. Hinata still loves Sasuke, but Ino knows her emotions aren't all in order at the moment. If there was any hope to resolve all of this drama, this blonde must find it and quickly. 

She hugged Hinata as she cried. "Hinata listen. It may seem bad right now, and at the moment things may look horrible, but you love Sasuke don't you?"

"Y-Yes... I do." Hinata answered in a shaky voice.

"Then you have to just- take all of that love and- and hold on to it for dear life! I know Sakura said you should let him go but-..._ No. Fuck that!_" Ino told her as she held on to Hinata's shoulders now. "It's only bad right now, it won't be this bad forever. You gotta hold on to that love you have with Sasuke!"

Hinata was moved by Ino's words, and wiped away some of her tears while nodding. "Y-You're right but-... I-I don't know what I'm doing anymore Ino. The letter I wrote... My feelings, I've been getting sick too-"

"I'll drop the letter of at his place myself." She interjected. "You don't have to worry about it. I'll keep you posted if anything happens. In the meantime you have got to get better Missy." Ino instructed. "Can't have Sasuke sick AND worrying his head over you, he'll go mad!" She added for a bit of humor.

Hinata smiled and even laughed a bit as she nodded. That brought a wave of relief to Ino, her father was one to say laughter is the best medicine. 


	23. Chapter 23

_Some time late in the afternoon... _

_Naruto held the ice pack over his left eye, as Ino was putting the bouquet she brought in some water. Of course those weren't actually for him, instead those were for the now sleeping Uchiha across from him. Sasuke was rushed in, due to some complications with the medicine that Sakura was giving him. The nurses looking over him suspect it was an overdose, but they wanted to keep him over night just to be sure. _

_The Uzumaki himself looked pissed, but he and Ino were trying their best to remain calm given the circumstances. _

"_Naruto just remember- he's our friend, and you did the right thing." Ino reminded him._

_ "Yeah... Just wish the reward wasn't a black eye though." He grumbled. _

_"I know it looks bad now, but he's not in a- ummm- A good place to think!" she tried to vouch in Sasuke's favor._

"_Bah! I knew the teme was crazy, but this is a new type of crazy!" _

_She crossed her arms and pouted. As if Hinata wasn't sad enough, now this is a problem too! Things just weren't looking up for anyone._

"_I wouldn't worry too much over him, He's Sasuke after all. He'll be awake and calling me a dobe in no time." He reassured._

"_Yeah... I only wish he could say that to Hinata, she's a wreck over all of this."_

_"I know..." He said with a frown. _

_Despite Sasuke's cold and rather heartless demure, he does love Hinata. Naruto couldn't be incredibly mad at him, even if he wanted to. And Ino's doing all she can to keep everyone together through all this craziness. She was really good at that..._

_He didn't say much else, but Naruto wrapped an arm around Ino's waist, pulling her in for a good hug. _

_She blushed before she shivered a bit. "Your hands are cold..."_

_He grinned. "My bad, but I'm sure you'll help warm them up~."_

_She rolled her eyes while smirking. "We shall see about that."_

Present time, 7 p.m.

Naruto was back in the hospital room with Sasuke, as they were contemplating different types of strategies on how to deal with this giant conundrum. Since violence was out of the question, the Uchiha found himself totally stumped and out of options.

"_You could talk to Sakura_..." Naruto offered for what seemed like the eighteenth time now.

"No."

"Why are you so hellbent on avoiding the elephant in the room?! It's not like she's Orochimaru!"

Sasuke was reluctant to speak as he was starting to brainstorm a plan. "What if I wrote Hinata a letter?"

"Huh?"

"I'm saying if I wrote Hinata a letter, I could ask her to meet me somewhere so the two of us can talk." He explained. "It'd be better that way wouldn't it?" 

"Well I guess, but you can't really see her because of the agreement remember?"

"She works around the hospital sometimes doesn't she?"

"I think so..."

"Then she's not seeing me as my girlfriend, she'll be working. I'm a patient here, so I'll lie and say I request her assistance."

"_In more ways than one..."_ Naruto mocked before Sasuke threw a cup at his head.

"It's a better alternative than talking to Sakura, so I'm going to do it."

He gave a heavy sigh of defeat before getting up. "Alright alright fine. Write your letter and I'll come by tomorrow morning. I hope you know what you're doing Teme..."

"For once, I hope I do too." 


	24. Chapter 24

A few days later, Ino decided to work with Shizune for the morning. Judging by the way she was fumbling over her papers, Ino could tell something was up. She asked about Shizune's worrying, and she actually seemed relieved to explain the situation. 

After the morning shift was over, now came the _vital _task of reconvening with Hinata. The Yamanaka never moved so fast through the hospital grounds before. She asked around, and thankfully Hinata was just sitting in the lobby. The Hyuga heiress was hunched over with a hand over her stomach, it was just as bad as Shizune described...

"H-Hey Hinata! How are you holding up?" Ino tried to sound cheery.

Hinata didn't say anything at first, she shook her head. "I-Ino it's really bad..."

"I heard from Shizune. Does Sasuke know?"

"N-No one knows except Shizune and you..."

"Well um,_ he is_ actually here today..."

Hinata perked up slightly. "S-Sasuke-kun is here?"

"He's on the third floor. He had to be brought in, because something went wrong with his migraines." Ino explained. "We can go visit him if you'd like." 

Ino could tell Hinata would love nothing more than to be able to do that. It was written all over the Hyuga's face. "What about- Tsunade-sama's-"

"You'll be with me and technically I'm still working under Shizune right now." Ino replied with a wink. "Besides, no one's around. It'll be our little secret." 

Hinata just gave a nod, and followed Ino to Sasuke's room. With a quick knock, Ino gave a glance to make sure no one else was around. They went in quietly when they saw that he was asleep, Hinata sat next to his bedside. Sasuke was a little better, compared to when he was first brought in. The color was better on his face, and his migraines seemed to have subsided.

All of this weighed on Hinata with a heavy heart, as she held his hand softly. Ino could tell immediately, Hinata was trying her hardest not to cry...

"Hinata, this wasn't your fault." Ino said softly.

She held his hand a little more as she shook her head. "He shouldn't be like this..."

"It'll be alright Hinata, he's going to get better. Sasuke loves you remember?"

"I-I know, but sometimes I just wish that-... Maybe, if things were different-"

"Please don't talk like that Hinata." Ino cut her off. "If things were different, then you would never have these experiences with Sasuke." She assure her. "You're in love, there's nothing to regret about that."

Hinata wanted to stay longer, but she knew that they couldn't. The pain was evident, as she let go of his hand and started to cry. Ino walked her out of the room, Sasuke shouldn't have to wake up to his girlfriend crying on his bedside... 

She hugged her, and tried her best to ease her troubles. 

_How do you ease someone's mind, when their going through something like this?_

She could only say so much, but she wasn't like Naruto. 

When _he_ spoke? The world would listen and things would get better. When _he _spoke, he would somehow find a way to brighten darkest of times._ He was amazing like that, a golden boy_ at his best. 

Ino even felt her own tears falling down the sides of her face. She hugged Hinata slightly tighter the more she thought about it. They didn't know what to do. Their situations were too much on the both at that moment, and made them realize how much they truly needed the men they loved.


	25. Chapter 25

Minutes felt like hours, while Ino and Hinata sat in the lobby solemnly. 

Looking up at the clock on the wall, Ino realized they've been sitting for the past hour and a half now, when she heard Naruto call out to them. He could tell by their sad faces, that things weren't doing so good. When they explained the situation, Ino quickly reminded him that it was on a strict need-to-know basis, and that he had to keep his voice down.

The mood took a turn for the worse, when Hinata started to mention Sakura. At first it didn't seem to bother Ino much, until she heard what _exactly_ Sakura told Hinata. Her worst fear was made true: Ino knew from first hand experience, what happens to Sakura when it came to Sasuke. The fact that Sakura was really ready to become a _homewrecker_ over all of this, sent Ino over the edge with rage, and stormed off to confront her about it.

Naruto could barely keep up with Ino, almost jogging after her. That was how furious Ino was about all of this, and had a personal bone to pick with Sakura now. Influencing Hinata to break up with Sasuke was bad enough on its own. _Letting Hinata get an abortion over all of this?_ **No**, _that _crossed the line. 

When Ino found Sakura, Ino immediately smacked Sakura as hard as she could across the face! Ino never felt so much anger fuming inside her until this moment. She said some harsh words to _best friend, _and it bloomed into a heated argument involvingcursing. Had it not been for Naruto intervening, they would have been fighting one another. Once Ino was able to calm down, she simply stormed off somewhere far away from Sakura. 

Naruto caught up with Ino again so the two could talk in private. It mainly consistence of him trying to calm her down, and making sure she doesn't go back to Sakura for round two. It ended with him telling her to go back to Hinata and make sure she was alright.

"_No doubt she could use a friend right now." _He told her.

This was true, Hinata _did _need a friend and now it seemed that Ino needed a friend herself as well. This was the second time her friendship with Sakura was dashed. All over something so simple as a relationship with a man... 

Since that was now gone, she really didn't have anyone else to confide in besides her teammates, Hinata or Tenten. Sakura was like a sister to her for so many years. It wasn't while they were fighting, but now the nasty things she said to her started to hurt emotionally.

However, she was reminded of the _brother_ she had when he grinned at her. Naruto told her that he would do his best to set things right. He even hugged her as a way to "seal the deal". She knew he just wanted a reason to hug her, but at that moment, she didn't have a care in the world about why. Naruto knew just how to cheer her up, whenever she needed it. 

"_I love you."_ Escaped her lips when they hugged. 

They were both initially shocked by it, but then Ino took a deep breath and said it again. This time with a confident smile on her face. "I love you Naruto." He smirked and kissed her forehead before leaving. "I love you too Ino."

The rest of the day was spent with Hinata back at the Hyuuga estate. She figured some time away from the hospital, would be better as she explained what happened with Sakura.

"No one has ever r-really stuck up for me... I-I don't know how to thank you Ino..." Hinata said hugging her pillow.

"Well, a good place to start is to _not _get an abortion..."

She blushed a bit before looking away. "What if h-he doesn't want to keep it?"

"Then let _him_ tell you. Don't just do it because you're scared. And besides, didn't he once mention something about restoring his clan?"

"Once during the war I believe so."

"Well he's gotta start _somewhere_ riight?"

"Oh goodness..." Hinata gave a heavy sigh as the blush grew more apparent on her face.

"Jokes aside, all I'm saying is to at least hear from him about what to do first. He'd be devastated to know that you were pregnant, and then found out you did that when he truly wanted to be a father."

Hinata nodded. "That's true... Ino I really owe you for e-everything you've done-"

She shook her head. "Think nothing of it, we're friends. It's what we do."

"But... W-What about you with Naruto and Sakura?"

Ino gave a small sigh. "I won't lie, I honestly don't know what'll happen with me and Sakura. We were like sisters you know? So, I'm going to let fate handle it..." 

She felt a smile creep on her face thinking back to earlier with Naruto. "As far as things with Naruto goes? Well... I took your advice, got to know him better and all that."

"And what happened?"

She chuckled a bit. "I fell for him. Told the goof I loved him, back at the hospital... He said he loved me too. So I guess as far as statuses go, we are technically a thing now. We never really sat down and talked about it though, we're just rolling with the punches for now."

Hinata smiled. "That's still wonderful news Ino!"

"I know right? The best news of the day!"

"Rather Ironic too..." Hinata pointed out her window showing Ino the sunset.

Ino nodded. "Yeah... Who knew irony was so beautiful?"


	26. Chapter 26

"Do you miss him?"

"A little bit."

Naruto sat with Ino on top of the heads of the hokages, particularly his father the Yondaime. It was late in the afternoon when Ino swung her legs watching some birds fly by.

"I bet he's really proud of you, following in your his footsteps and all that..."

He nodded. "Heh yeah, it's a family business being a hero and all." He chuckled.

She smiled and leaned on his shoulder. "Hm, I got a question for you."

"What's up?"

She started to blush a bit. "Well you mentioned family and all... So I was wondering, do you want a family Naruto?" 

"Me? I- ummm... Huh, I never really gave it much thought. I mean with everything going on, and Sasuke's gonna be a dad too? I dunno." He shrugged while blushing. "Could be fun though, having a little guy running around to call my son..."

She smirked. "Slurping ramen faster than his dad, learning how to use rasengan..."

He started to chuckle when he thought about it. "Oh but what if there was a girl? Hnn, I'm not good with little girls."

Ino pouted. "Oh come on, you don't think a girl could do the rasengan too?"

He had an image in his head, of a little girl trying to learn the rasengan in one of those frilly little pink dresses. He even started to laugh a bit. "It would be kinda cool if my daughter knew the rasengan."

"I think it'd be awesome." She boasted.

"Just like her mom..." He mused.

Ino quickly turned pink. "Her _mom_?!"

"I-! Ugh-! I m-meant-! The k-kids mom! The kids mom would be awesome!" He tried to explain.

She sighed and crossed her arms. He was highly confused by her actions, but then she just stuck her tongue out at him. He did the same and then tried to hug her, but she quickly reminded him that they were sitting on top of the yondaime's statue of his head.


	27. Chapter 27

It was another slow day at the flower shop for Ino, but she didn't mind it today. She slumped over on the counter letting her mind wonder about different things that would arise.

"Uzumaki Ino... Ino Uzumaki~." She mindlessly hummed to herself while grinning.

"Hmm we would have _really _blonde kids. Although I heard his mom had red hair..." She thought as she pulled out a small notebook and a pencil.

She made a T-chart and listed one side "boys" and the other side "girls". She started to list different names for her children should she have any of her own. Looking back on it, she grew a tad bit worried because she could only come up with one name for the boys side.

She sighed in defeat. "Man... All I could come up with was _Natsuo_. Hopefully I only have 1 boy, they can be so reckless..." She chuckled a bit as her thoughts turned to Naruto for a bit "Reckless, and kind..."

She then looked to the girls side and marveled at how many names she had, counting through she had three names listed. "Nikkou, Mitsuko, and Kikyo... Hmm, I have a thing for light and the sun it seems." She put the pencil to her chin. "That makes four kids right there, but would I actually _want_ that many kids?" She put both hands on her cheeks and pouted.

Viewing Hinata's predicament, it made her think about her own future. Hinata just started her pregnancy this month, and it was rumored that Temari was already 2 months into hers. The only one who didn't want kids for a while was Sakura. Which made sense giving all the work that she does. Tenten wants to hold off on children until after marriage, seemed like a smart plan too.

She talked about it with Naruto, and for the most part he was on board with the idea of family life. Now it begs the question of what will become of their relationship? At the moment, they were "friendly lovers". That would be the best way to describe it, they weren't technically as serious as Sasuke and Hinata were. Nor were they anywhere close to being married or engaged or anything of that nature. 

Maybe it was about time that changed.

She was in love with him after all, there was no question about that. Naruto felt the same way, so what was holding them back? All the contemplating made Ino furrow her brow the more she thought about it. The difficulty of her relationship problems were becoming annoying, and it was starting to stress her out.

"That's it! I've made up my mind! I'm going to ask him out! No more beating around the bush, no more dodging, I'm going to confess for real this time!" She said proudly with determination. "I just need to actually find time to actually do it..." She quickly slumped.


	28. Chapter 28

With mixed emotions, Naruto walked through the halls of the hospital looking for Sakura. The other night, he met with Sasuke to talk about the next course of action with this situation. Apparently after having a fever dream, he's decided to speak with her today at noon. In all honesty, he felt rather bad for Sakura. They were still good friends after all, but she still had a habit of overstepping boundaries. Naruto only wished it wasn't with Sasuke. If he hasn't made his point across to her before, he'd probably do it again if not worse.

He found her at last talking with Shizune over some paperwork that was piled on the desk.

"Hello Shizune, Sakura-chan." He greeted.

The waved as they were wrapping up. "Sasuke wanted me to tell you, that he wants to talk to you at noon in his room- just the two of you." He informed her.

She perked up. "Really? Thanks for letting me know! I'll be there right away!" She was beaming with excitement.

He grinned at her, taking it for what it was worth, and walked out of the hospital. Normally he would have tried to eavesdrop, but this was one of those times where he preferred not to know the outcome. He knows what Sasuke is capable of, but he gave him the benefit of the doubt. He waited around for a bit until he went back to the Uchiha's room. There wasn't any blood, so that was a good start. Sasuke wasn't smiling though, the room felt a lot _colder _than usual. He told Naruto about what happened with Sakura, and felt a bit relieved. In a way, he was rather proud of Sasuke in how he handled it.

With the rest of the day to himself, he decided to do a couple of low rank missions to earn a little extra cash. He also ran into Lee, and soon enough they were sparring for about two hours. It was always fun to spar with him! With some daylight left, he opted to watch the sun go down from a top of the hokage's statues and think about things. The only thing he could think about was Ino. Given what happened, he began to worry about his own relationship with her. To call it a relationship felt like a stretch. He honestly had no clue what to call the bound between them anymore. She told him she loved him, and he told her he loved her. 

_Why was this so hard to figure out?_

"You could have given me a little advice on how to deal with girls ya know..." He groaned as he looked down at the statue of his father, and gave a heavy sigh. "I like her- a lot. So should I just tell her that up front? Nghaa! That's so dumb! I sound like a scared little kid..." He scratched his head. 

"She's pretty cool to hang out with, she's nice, and funny too. Huh, in a way she _is _like mom..." He closed his eyes for a bit, before he bolted back up on to his feet. "Fingers crossed this works alright dad?" He hopped off the statues, and raced down the streets looking for the jewelry store. He was in luck, he made it just before they were closing. The owner and cashier looked worried as he was half out of breath.

"I-! Would like-! To get-! A ring please!" He gasped before falling to his knees.

They looked at one another, and then the owner got him some water. The cashier showed him the collection of rings that were on display. He saw how they all were glimmering in the light, they were all so fancy! He explained what he wanted to do with said ring, and the cashier easily showed him the best ring for his endeavor: It was a silver ring, with sapphires decorating it as the came together in the middle. It reminded him of how he prepares the rasengan. It was perfect, but he was worried about the price of it. Owner smirked and told him it was half off and Naruto bought it on the spot. He bowed in gratitude at the shop owner and cashier before he returned home. He could stop smiling and staring at it.

As he laid in bed, he kissed the ring and placed it on his side table. For the rest of the night, he was thinking about what tomorrow's going to be like.

"It's all or nothing..." He said to himself before drifting off to sleep.


	29. Chapter 29

_Yesterday evening at the Hyuuga estate..._

_Hinata and Ino were enjoying each other's company over tea. Ino often checked in on her to make sure Hinata was doing alright, after the ordeal with Sasuke. She has also been getting morning sickness and overall feeling nauseous, but Ino assured her it wouldn't last through out the whole pregnancy._

"_Oi neesan, Sakura-san is here!" Hanabi called out to her._

_Ino had a concerned look, but Hinata nodded and let Sakura come into her room. It quickly turned quiet out of awkwardness, but Ino spoke first._

"_So Sakura, what brings you by?" She asked trying to sound civil._

_She sighed softly. "I know you probably hate me Ino, but I came by to apologize... To both of you."_

_Ino crossed her arms and didn't say much else. She exchanged glances with Hinata and then looked back to Sakura._

"_You were right, I was being extremely selfish. I chose jealousy over my own friends, and nearly forced one of them to stop being happy." Sakura began._

_Ino and Hinata were listening to her words, but then Hinata spoke up as she started to fiddle with some strands of her hair. "W-Wait. Before you continue, Sakura there's something you should know."_

_Ino frowned. "Hinata I don't think-"_

"_I-It's alright Ino. Sakura, back when we were working together in the hospital, I wasn't feeling well. A few days later after you told me about Sasuke-kun's hospitalization, I was with Shizune and- I found out I was pregnant."_

_Sakura went wide eyed as Hinata continued. "I would have told you sooner but- you still had your feelings for him, and I didn't want to cause a-anymore trouble..." Her voice was broken up and the tears were welling up in her eyes._

_Sakura was speechless. She just put a hand over her mouth, as she started to cry as well._

"_That's what I was trying to tell you..." Ino said bitterly. "You were so hooked on tearing them apart, you didn't realize how just how bad the damage was for Hinata. Our friend."_

_Sakura sobbed. _

_"Hinata, please forgive me for all of this! If we're no longer remain friends I can accept that. I never meant to cause you this much pain! Especially since you're-! Oh my god I'm sincerely sorry! I-I should have just let my stupid crush go, but I got upset because someone else was in love with Sasuke! Instead of being supportive, I went behind your back Hinata! And instead of listening, I just shrugged your words aside Ino! You both have every right to resent and hate me right now! I deserve it!"_

_Ino watched with mixed emotions as tears rolled down her own eyes now. All three of them were crying, but to their surprise Hinata went over to Sakura and hugged her._

"_H-Huh? H-Hinata?"_

_Hinata didn't say anything at first but then Ino went over and hugged Sakura too._

"_I-Ino wait, why are you-"_

"_Just shut up alright?" Ino mumbled as she combed Sakura's pink locks with her hand. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't bring myself to hate you billboard brow..." She said in between sobs._

"_I don't w-want to hold this as a grudge against you Sakura. I would rather f-forgive you instead, because I'm still your friend..." Hinata added while trying to calm down._

_All Sakura could do was nod, as she held on tightly to both Ino and Hinata as she cried. Ino just looked at both of her friends.They have been through hell throughout the years. Even with this incident, they were all still friends deep down. They were all still the young girls from the famous rookie nine who had their cute little crushes,and determination to get better._

_A few moments later, Hanabi poked her head inside the room with a worried expression._

"_Um, Nee-san are you okay?"_

_Hinata looked up and saw her younger sister and wiped her tears away. "Yeah, I'm okay. Tell father I'm letting my company spend the night with me."_

_Earlier this morning..._

_After returning home from the unexpected sleepover with Hinata, Ino watched the rain hit the various flower petals as she put on her poncho. She was getting ready to leave for a mission with her team. She was nearly on her way to the hokage's tower when someone called out. _

_"Wait."_

_It was Sasuke, he looked better to say the least. When he asked where she was heading, he handed her his letter, in hopes she could bring it to Hinata as soon as possible._

"_I'll give it to her right now." She replied._

_He didn't openly display it, but she knew he was grateful. And luckily, she was able to keep her word, as she found Hinata in a tea shop by herself. She would have stayed longer, but she didn't want to keep her teammates waiting so she handed it to her and was out the door._

"_I think you should really give this a good read."_

_Present Time in The Land of Waves..._

The wind was howling as the rain poured down across the area. Team ten was accompanied by Naruto, as Tsunade sent them off as a disaster relief squadron. The Land of Waves was suffering from a horrible storm, that was destroying parts of their buildings. Ino was less than pleased with the wind...

It kept whirling around her hair so much, it forced her to put it into a wet and messy bun. In the meantime, she tended to the villagers and helped any who were caught in madness. Shikamaru was the overseer of everything, while Choji and Naruto tried to patch up any remaining buildings the best they could.

"Tch, I hate the rain..." Shikamaru groaned as he dried his hair.

Choji nodded in agreement, as he shook some water out of his hair. "What happened to Ino and Naruto?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "The_ love birds_ are probably in the other inn somewhere. It's fine, the worst part of the storm is passing anyway."

True to his assumption, they were in another inn. Ino was in the guest room they were allowed to used for the time they were staying. Because of the storm, more people were forced to stay so to save space, Naruto opted to share the room with her. She was by the small vanity armoire, brushing the tangles out of her hair when he came and slouched on the bed.

"Hey now, you'd better not be wet!" She protested.

He chuckled. "Don't worry I'm dry." 

She sighed as she slumped next to him, while they listened to the sounds of the storm outside. "It's really bad out there isn't it..."

"Yeah, no wonder Tsunade-sama sent us over..."

"We came just in time according to Shikamaru, the worst of the storm is over now."

"That's good. Say, are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah I'm fine."

"You sure? You seemed a little- I dunno, down today."

She sighed and rolled on to her side, she still had lingering thoughts from last night. "You remember when me and Sakura fought back at the hospital?"

"Uh yeah. You two were pretty heated. Why?"

"Well, she came over while I was with Hinata, and she apologized for everything..."

"That's good though! Right?"

"If by good, you mean we all ending up crying our eyes out for like half an hour."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"No harm was done. In a way, it was going to happen sooner or later."

He turned to face her. "Still, I can't imagine a time where crying is fun. Are you guys still friends or-"

She nodded. "Yeah we are. We might act a little weird towards one another at first, but we'll be fine."

He grinned. "I understand, I'm glad things worked out."

She smiled back. "I am too."

He perked up. "Hey! You hear that?"

She raised a brow. "Hear what the rain- The rains stop!" She exclaimed.

They both quickly threw on their shoes, and went outside to see for themselves. The storm had indeed passed: The sky was colored with dark pink, orange, and pale dark blue hues as the storm clouds were rolling away from the area. It was truly a sight to see, as all the towns people were looking up in awe at the natural beauty. Ino actually pointed out a rainbow that was just visible enough for all of them to see as the sun was setting.

"That's really something..." Naruto side while looking up at the spectacle.

"_Well here goes..."_ Ino internally thought as she was mentally preparing herself.

"You know what else is really something?"

"Huh? What?"

She started to blush but she shook it away. "You are. To me you are really something Naruto..." She said as she started to smile.

His raised both his eyes in shock. "I-I am?"

She couldn't help but laugh, it was helping her shake the edge of her ever rising nervousness. "Of course you are! Look at you, you're one of the strongest shinobi I know! You're caring and headstrong... Always striding for the top. I guess what I'm really trying to say is-" She had to sigh and regain her concentration she was starting to shake she was that nervous.

"I-Ino?"

"I'm really trying to tell you that, I don't just love you Naruto. I'm _in_ love with you." She grinned as the pink blush appeared across her cheeks.

He couldn't believe what she said. He nearly forgot what to say, if not for the memory of him buying the ring the other day. He didn't hesitate to pull her in for a kiss and clasp her hands with his.

"When we get back home, come find me at the hokage's monument. I have something really important to tell you."

"What? But-"

"Trust me, I think you'll like what I have to tell you."


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a while huh... Well here's the second to last chapter at last!

He hated this feeling; he **hated **being nervous. He stood atop of the head of his father's statue, with the small box in his pocket. He could win wars and take on a rabbit goddess, but _this? _Needless to say he was on pins and needles about the whole thing. But, he knew in his heart that this was what he wanted. He was putting everything on the line for her, so he summoned the courage to make sure he does this right. He kept on sighing heavily and pacing around nonstop. 

"_What if she doesn't show? Should I check up on her at the flower shop?" _He thought before quickly dismissing it. "_No no I gotta relax! She'll come! I know she will!_

After fifteen minutes Ino came up to the hokage's statues, he sighed in relief.

"Ino-chan you made it!"

She looked a bit out of breath. "Ah, sorry about that. I accidentally overslept and then I had to tend to the garden, I would have been here much sooner." She explained.

He chuckled trying to remain cool. "Heh! No worries, I was just scared you weren't going to show at all."

She smirked. "No way! I'd find a way to make sure I'd meet you. So now that I _am _here, what's this important thing you had to tell me?" 

He exhaled the nervousness away. "_Okay here we go!" _

"First I gotta know, how long have you been in love with me Ino?"

She was a bit caught off guard by the question and started to pout. "I thought you had something important to tell me."

"I do I do! I'm just really curious to know."

She huffed. "Well if you must know, it started out as a crush when we were younger. Back when you were off finding Sasuke. I didn't really know you like I do now, and I knew you were head over heels about Sakura so I just kept it to myself. Now that I got to be with you and spent more time with you, the crush came back stronger than ever."

A blush came on to his cheeks as he smiled and nodded.

"Okay I told you, now come on tell me the important thing!"

"Are you _sure?_" He playfully teased.

"Ughgh! Yes Naruto I'm sure!"

"Well when you confessed to me back at the Land of Waves, it made me realized something... I don't want you to be my sister Ino. I don't even want you as my _girlfriend_..."

She would have felt great sadness, if he hadn't reached into his pocket and took out the small box and placed it in her hands. He nodding for her to open it. She nearly dropped it at the sight of the ring and covered her mouth in an attempt to muffle her shriek.

"Instead I um-... I want you to be _my wife_. That way, we'll enjoy everything together. The good and the bad!" He said while scratching the back of his head nervously. "So... Do you want to be my wife Ino?"

She was overwhelmed with emotions, she couldn't contain her happiness. She was in tears with how happy she was. "YES! Yes you goof! YES I WANT TO BE YOUR WIFE!" She practically jumped right into his arms.

His joy quickly turned to fear, as he quickly realized where they were standing. He lost his footing and slipped off the monument. He nearly went deaf from Ino's screams as they fell, but thankfully he was able to catch her right in front of the hokage tower. Ino clung to him for dear life, as he laughed and the others looked at the couple in confusion. Naruto just grinned widely as he yelled: "**SHE SAID YES!**"


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes! It's the smutty finally! I hope this was worth the wait and thank you for sticking with it!

The morning sunlight started to peer through the window in Naruto's bedroom. He held Ino in his arms, as they were waking up after a heated session of love making. His eyes fluttered as he looked down at her sneak a kiss on her forehead.

"Hey, rise and shine.~" He said softly.

She nuzzled into his chest as she groaned in resistance. "Five more minutes...~"

He chuckled and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Ino, you know we have a mission in an hour. You also know how crabby Shikamaru gets when we're late..." 

She pouted and moved some of her hair from her face, then grabbed his arm as he was getting up. "We have an hour right? Can we have some- _fun_ before we go~?" She teased as she also started to get up. "It's going to be a long and _boring _mission, so let's have some fun for the road~." 

He smirked and gave a playful nip at her bottom lip. "_Now how could I say no to that~?"_

Ino smiled as she kissed him back, before they started yet another heated make out session.

He grinned as she tried to fight over dominance as they kissed. She loved the way his masculinity tackled her body so. Even now while she's on top of him, she felt her womanhood growing wet with anticipation all over again. She moaned softly as she sat directly on his erect manhood. "See, it seems I've sparked your interest all over again~." She mused.

He winced a bit. "Damn, you've caught me again Ino."

"So then, what should we do with our- _45 minutes hm_~?"

He smirked and started to massage her perky D cups. "I think I know a thing or two~."

She grinned as she positioned her moist core with his bulge, and slide herself inside of her. She winced from the soreness from their previous session, but the pleasure soon took hold. It was her favorite part after all. She moaned softly as she bounced slightly as their hips rocked almost in perfect unison, Naruto was enjoying both the view and the feeling of his fiancee.

"O-Oh god Ino! You're almost as horny as the first time!" He moaned.

She panted heavily while he spoke. "N-Naruto-kun~!" She said while whimpering.

This would continue for about ten minutes, before Ino gave out from climaxing hard on his bulge for a third time. She panted a bit while she sat there on top of him kissing his chest softly. She could get used to sessions like this, dealing with Shikamaru's complaining made it all the more worth wild. In secret they might have made a habit out of it, but they will never let him know. He's smart enough to figure it out anyway...

Naruto glanced over at his alarm clock. "_4:55..._" He chuckled while trying to catch breath.

She looked up at him and poked his cheek. "If we shower together we can get there quicker~."

He smirked. "After you~."


End file.
